The Prince and the Raven
by Waifine
Summary: [Reconstructed from Princess Tutu.] Once upon a time there was a fair Prince with a pure heart, who sought to protect all. He and his gallant knight lived in a Kingdom of perpetual peace. That is, until the day when a Monster Raven appeared and laid waste to the land. The cities crumbled, the people suffered, and in the face of this colossus the Prince took up his sword.
1. Darkness is Banished

**Chapter One**

**Darkness is Banished**

Once upon a time, there was a king and a queen who wanted a child more than any treasure in the world. But when a prince was at last born to the aging couple, they learned that his fate would be to protect all weak things even at the cost of his life. [1]

Mime, the old king of the land, stared into the face of his dearest friend, feeling in that moment the full burden of a heavy heart. They had been through much together. Many wars. Too many, if he was honest. And he _did_ always try to be honest, just as the man before him did. It was because of this that his next question was so entirely hollow and lackluster. "You are certain?"

The Court Mage, with his long flowing beard that touched the carpeted floor, nodded solemnly. He was a haggard man. Life, and the Sight that he possessed, had weighed with him over the years. "I am afraid there can be no doubt. Your son shall grow into a man who loves_ everyone_. All things, all creatures, and all people. And his kindness will know no bounds… Even those set upon him by his own body." The silence between them was heavy. "He will be a truly great king," offered the Mage. [2]

"–If he ever_ lives_ to be king," Mime answered darkly, looking away from the bearer of these tidings, as though with a gesture he could look away from the tidings themselves.

"_Mime."_ He turned at the rebuke.

He had almost forgotten the presence of his Queen in the room. How ridiculous, considering the place where they three were now assembled.

No…not three. Four.

They had just returned from the Chapel of Hope, where they baptism had been performed. Sieglinde once again lay in her bed, exhausted, her arms wrapped around their son, born to this world not two hours before. It was amazing how, despite the hours of labor, and the fatigue which she had fought through, she could still be keen to every word spoken. [3]

The King held her gaze for a moment longer before relinquishing it, finding it a burden, with all of its conveyed anxieties, too heavy to bear. He turned away from her, the Mage, his newborn son, and this newborn foul prophesy. Mime strode to the window, and looked out upon his kingdom. It was truly a glorious place. The land was one of well-tended fields, of beautiful valleys, hills, streams that coursed far into the distance, and lush forests that lay bespeckling the countryside.

He leaned his arms upon the stone sill of the window, and bowed his head. After these many years without an heir, and then these many hours in fear for Sieglinde's life… would there always been a darkness to each spot of sunlight they were granted?

Sieglinde, whose eyes had been fixed on the outline of her lord, now looked back to the little wonder she had brought into the world. He was so beautiful, with his tuft of sheer blond hair and little red hands. He was so small… only just born. She leaned down, and laid a gentle kiss upon his soft, fresh-birthed little head. After all these years of wanting he was her little ray of radiance, born into a barren world.

The king and queen mourned, for with such a fate their prince would come to know nothing but sorrow and pain. [4]

King Mime gripped his fingers into the stonework of the window frame. "No," he said resolutely. "No, I will not have it." He looked across the land, fraught as it was with sunlight and shadows. He looked again to the forests, and the long shades they cast, and again to the windmills, and houses, where their rising forms left dark footprints in their wake. "If we are to have a son who will love all things, and who will always defend his subjects against the powers of evil and darkness-"

"-Then let us cast out all the darkness from our kingdom."

King Mime turned to look upon Queen Sieglinde, who sat erect, her eyes fierce with a regal resolve, clutching her child, and one true treasure, to her chest.

The king looked to his Mage, and nodded. "Yes. This is our wish."

"Your Majesties, I must caution you not to act too hastily. Remember that it is often the very actions we take to avoid misfortunes which may bring them upon us with most haste," the Mage looked from his old friend and sovereign, to his queen. "A story of despair may very well be set in motion if you tear despair from its makeup." [5]

"_This is our wish,"_ Sieglinde reaffirmed, holding the child all the more closely.

And so, thinking to save him from grief and bequeath him nothing but unending happiness, they banished all shadows from their kingdom. [6]

**…**

The ravens blotted out the sun.

From every forest, from every glen, and from the rafters of every farm and castle, they rose like dark clouds, expelled by the Mage and his magic; by the King and Queen, and their decree.

Sieglinde sat in the window-seat as the sun set, dressed in a loose evening robe, her child wrapped in her arms. She smiled down at him, even as the patches of darkness played across his face. Tomorrow, she and Mime would present him to the court. Tonight, however…

"My love, should you be up?"

Sieglinde looked around. In the semi-darkness of the room she saw Mime closing the door behind him. "It is strange, is it not?" she said, looking outside again. "I would never have suspected there were so many in the entire kingdom. Where are they all coming from?"

"Some," the King removed his chain of office – a heavy burden – and draped it over a chain, "are uprooted from the nests that are the memories within our subjects. Many, I dare say, actually. From their minds. From their hearts." He sighed heavily, looking through the window, beyond his wife and child. [7]

"Negative emotions like the ravens lurk within everyone's heart," he said quietly. So quietly, that Sieglinde almost did not catch the words over the deafening cry of birds and flap of wings outside. [8]

"Some," he continued, "are not from the minds of men at all, but appear to have come from the land itself, and range in their identity from creatures natural, to those of sheer magic…" Sieglinde gave him her undivided attention. [9]

"For every splash of light, there must also be a shadow," he said, crossing the room, and laying a hand on her shoulder, his eyes all the while fixed on the flock of darkness outside.

"Always… until today," she said. "After today, all of the dark emotions shall be thrown out from the kingdom, and we shall have no grief or suffering ever again." She looked out of the window again, rocking her child with a soothing rhythm. "I wonder why none of your forefathers ever did such a thing," she mused. [10]

Mime sat down beside her, his eyes also fixed on the chaos outside. "They feared the misbalance that such an act might bring," he said, thinking back to the myths and omens of his childhood. "They feared the consequences of a kingdom of too much light. That… without darkness… light may very well come to have no meaning…" He fell into deep and troubled thought. [11]

"I dare say," he finally continued, "that they considered it a natural order of life… to learn to live side by side with, and make peace and harmony with, the ravens in our own hearts." [12]

The Queen shifted her darling bundle slightly, and reached out to take her king's arm with her free hand. "We had no choice," she said quietly. "It is known, and has always been known, that the raven was born from the ugly desires of humanity." Gently, she took the baby, making certain to support his head, and delivered him into his father's arms. Mime held him like the world's most delicate and fragile animal; as though he was no more than the hatchling of a swan. "With a heart so pure and loving as that of our son's," the queen continued, "the ravens, if allowed to remain in this Kingdom, could become even more powerful, and strengthen those negative emotions. All of the land… the entire world… could be shrouded in darkness." The baby, still too small to even make a noise, wriggled in his swaddling. Sieglinde looked down at him. The very sight of him convinced her beyond a shadow of a doubt that they had done the right thing. "…What seeds of misfortune would scatter throughout the land, if this came to pass? Plague? War? In the end, all that would be left…would be _hatred."_ [13]

She again looked out the window. Already the shades were thinning, and vanishing. "Do not think of it as an act that your ancestors would never have committed," she said, the shadows playing across her face, her eyes transfixed. "Think of it rather as an act which you found the ideal time to perform. You found the perfect moment to strike. We have freed the land of shadows, my love," she smiled wearily at her husband. "And we have saved our son."

For a long while the two simply sat in the windowsill, and smiled down at the child between them. "Yes… yes, I agree," he nodded. And even as he spoke, the King felt all the agitation waning from within him, as though it had grown wings, and flown away.

"Ah, peace forever," they sighed, watching despair and anger and darkness fly out from the prince's heart, from their hearts, from the hearts of all their subjects in the form of ravens. But where will they fly to? The king and queen wondered before forgetting the question in the shining smile of their son, his heart now untouched and pure as freshly fallen snow.

But did the Monster Raven, so entirely evil, come out from the prince's heart or did the prince, so impossibly pure, come out from the raven's? [14]

**…**

**Footnotes: **

[1][4][6][14] Excerpt from _This Pendent Heart,_ a light-novel by LunaSphere. Ch15. p.119

[2] The trait of universal love in the Prince is from _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.26

[3] "Mime" and "Sieglinde" are the parents' names in Richard Wagner's 1876 opera, _Siegfried._

[5] This catalyst of the events is drawn from _This Pendent Heart,_ Ch15. p.121

[7] The uprooting of the ravens is drawn from _This Pendent Heart,_ Ch18. p.161

[8] This sentiment is drawn from _Princess Tutu (manga),_ Vol2. Ch10. p.13

[9] The uprooting of the ravens is drawn from _This Pendent Heart,_ Epilogue. p.176

[10] Reference to the 'dark emotions' is drawn upon from _This Pendent Heart,_ Ch18. p.154

[11] The kingdom of too much light is drawn upon from _This Pendent Heart,_ Ch18. p.164

[12] The notion of living with the ravens is drawn from _This Pendent Heart, _Epilogue.p.176

[13] This speech is similar to one from _Princess Tutu (manga),_ Vol2. Ch10. p.11


	2. A Sword of Old Magic

**Chapter Two**

**A Sword of Old Magic**

Prince Siegfried grew into everything to make his royal parents proud beyond their wildest dreams. He was fearless in combat, elegant in manner, and had the gentlest heart and most noble soul of any young man in the kingdom. What had once been a prophesy which made King Mime and Queen Sieglinde fearful, had grown into a reality that gave them boundless joy. With the banishing of the ravens, the kingdom had become peaceful beyond anyone's imagination. Crime and war vanished, and in a single night the land had become orderly and constant, like a well-cared for watch. And all of the people remembered this day as the day of their Prince's birth. [1]

"Are you excited, your highness?" The old nursemaid who had tended to him for years now lovingly fastened the cape around the young Prince's shoulder.

"Yes," he smiled, doing his best to stay absolutely still. "I've looked forward to this for weeks. You know, I could hardly sleep last night because of it." He was aquiver with anticipation. He looked above the fireplace in his room, to where his family crest hung – a crest on which was emblazed a beautiful, crowned swan with rainbow colored wings, set against a blue background, as clear and as bold as that of a lake on a summer's day. The swan itself perched upon a greater crown, embedded with precious gems. [2]

Siegfried fidgeted with a golden thread from the swan embroidered on his own white tunic. A rising, soaring swan.

He smiled, his honey colored eyes transfixed. "From this day forward, the crest of our kingdom will be mine to carry." Today was the day of Prince Siegfried's coming of age; what for other boys was knighthood, and for him was the shouldering of all his princely duties.

The hour struck. The bells rang through the kingdom. Siegfried smiled, resolution in his face. He was ready. _I have wanted this for so long,_ he thought. _I want to be awarded my sword and shield. I want to be able to protect everyone. …To love everyone._

**…**

In every other moment of his life, he was Prince Siegfried. He was the destined King, the promised Prince. The only heir to the throne of this fair Kingdom. However, when he trained and sparred, and studied, and struggled with his peers, he was a boy of noble birth like any other, seeking the most honorable state of knighthood and duty.

Siegfried paced one of the corridors adjacent to the Great Hall, where the ceremony would commence. He took a deep breath, and straightened his back. Nervously, he ran his fingers through his wisp-like blond hair. [3]

Conversations came in and out of focus as courtiers traveled down adjacent hallways, moving to the Great Hall to find themselves seats. The Prince's coming of age was not a spectacle to be missed.

"_So, how many are being knighted today?"_

"_I hear it will just be the Prince, and one other."_

"_Oh, who?"_

"_That surly fellow. You know the one. Parsifal's boy." _[4]

The trumpets sounded, and Siegfried's undivided attention returned the Hall. Just one turn around the corner and it would be upon him.

Such events were never well attended. The king would take an hour out of his day to knight a boy or two. Perhaps the boy's family would make an appearance, to see and be seen in the courtly circles. However, this time it seemed as though all the court had turned up for the occasion. Wooden stalls had been erected to line the walls. The Prince could hear the noise, the whispering, and the laughter all die down with the trumpets' swell.

It was time. Taking a deep breath, he stepped out of the corridor and into the Great Hall of the Swan Stone Castle. [5]

All eyes were on him. At the end of the Hall were three small archways, within each of which was nestled a throne. In the center sat the king, and Siegfried could see from here how the man was attempting to check his fatherly pride beneath that well-trimmed beard. On his right sat Siegfried's mother, who was holding his father's hand in an attempt to give him support, even as she herself had eyes that glistened so that they caught every spark of light from the chandlers that lined the Hall. [6]

"_Your Royal Majesties," _the caller began to slowly announce in his sing-song baritone,_ "my Lords and Ladies of the Court, here stands before you Siegfried, son of Mime…"_ The caller announced him, his rank and his lineage five generations back, and all of his ancestors' great deeds. Siegfried walked at a steady pace across the length of the Hall. Just as the crier called out, _"We come here to honor him for his bravery and his chivalry. Amen," _Siegfried came to stand before his parents. He smiled up at them both, before sinking down on one knee.

Another trumpet sounded.

"_Your Royal Majesties, my Lords and Ladies of the Court, here stands before you Lohengrin, son of Parsifal…"_ and once more, on and on the proclamation went until, out of the corner of his eye, as his head was bowed, Siegfried saw a pair of well-made but simple black boots come to stop by his side.

"_Amen."_

The owner of the pair of boots bowed to the king and queen, and then he too took a knee by Siegfried's side. As they set themselves so, with their heads bent, the two young men caught each other's eye.

Siegfried smiled. The other boy, Lohengrin, merely raised an eyebrow before returning his stare to the ground. Siegfried kept his gaze on his companion one moment longer before looking away as well. He was a black-haired boy, of what appeared to be Siegfried's own age and stature. _He has such storm-filled green eyes,_ was all that Siegfried had time to think before his father rose.

"Do you, Siegfried of the House Mime, and Lohengrin of the House Parsifal, swear on your lives to protect the innocent, defend the weak, and serve the royal line of this kingdom with justice, honor, and love?"

"My lord king, this I do swear," the two boys chorused as one.

Siegfried sensed rather than saw how his father took up one of the two swords he had leaned against his throne. He heard the metal sing as his father unsheathed it.

"Lohengrin, Parsifal's son, you took a knee as a boy. Rise now as a man." Mime set the sword to rest first on one of the boy's shoulders, and then on the other. "Sir Lohengrin, protector of the realm!"

The crowd clapped politely as Lohengrin stood once again. Mime sheathed the sword once more and gave it to him. "This sword is yours to name. The duties that you perform by it will be its history. If they be great, they will become its legend." Lohengrin took the sword, and pressed it to his heart in a salute.

Mime nodded. He then returned to his throne, took up the second sword, and turned to look upon his kneeling son. Siegfried again heard the sound of a sword unsheathing. A thrill went through him.

"Siegfried, Mime's son, you took a knee as a boy. Rise now as a man." Siegfried could hear how fiercely his father tried to control his voice. How desperately he tried to keep it from cracking. In the next moment he felt the weight of metal, first upon one shoulder, and then upon the other. "Prince Siegfried, protector of the realm!" A knot formed in his throat.

A hand gripping into his knee for support, Siegfried put himself back onto his feet, and finally looked up at his father, before his eyes slid onto the sword he was holding. He blinked at the hilt. It was staggeringly beautiful. It took the form of two swans exquisitely worked in white silver, on whom every feather could be seen. [7]

"This sword is named Nothung. It has been carried by a member of the royal line for as long as this castle has stood. It is a sword of the old magic. See that you are worthy of it." Siegfried took in hand the sword his father offered him, and pressed it to his heart ardently. [8]

Yet, at the very same moment, there echoed in his mind the subconscious observation that perhaps the reason that he had never before laid eyes on this, his father's and his bloodline's sword, was that since the very day of his birth, there had ceased to be a need to carry swords.

It was a strangely ominous thought, and Siegfried banished it from his mind.

All thought and words was drowned out by the cheers and claps that reverberated off all the walls of the Great Hall and made the chandeliers tinkle merrily.

**…**

The well-wishers and luck-givers had all finally dispersed. After the ceremony Siegfried had been positively swarmed by his people. The day had been exhausting, but incredible. Siegfried had been summoned to his parents' chambers for that evening. For now, however, he had a little while of leisure.

With his sword strapped to his belt, Siegfried meandered through the castle. Occasionally he would meet a stray courtier who would congratulate him, and to whom he would smile back. For the most part, however, the halls were cleared, the display over. So he wandered for a long, long while. Finally, more from habit than conscious thought, he found himself in the courtyard, where he had spent his years of training. He smiled as he looked about it. It was a beautiful open space, with the castle's elegant walls rising about it. In the center there stood a single dogwood tree, whose white flowers were in full bloom, and whose petals, with every passing gust of wind, floated down to rest upon the surface of the pond bellow. A few swans and ducks glided across the water.

Sitting at the base of the tree and on the bank of the pond, Siegfried saw a familiar figure.

As he approached Lohengrin from behind he saw that his dark hair was in fact rather long and that, for the occasion, he had pulled it back into a tail with a dark green velvet ribbon. He was slightly bent over his newly acquired sword, running a wet stone along its edges to sharpen it. Siegfried now saw that, while the sheath and the grip of the sword were bound in a dark leather, the sword had a bright, violet gem embedded at the top of its hilt. The knight did not mark the prince's approach. [9]

But then, he did not blanch when the Prince announced himself either. "Sir," he said with a smile as he too set himself on the bank of the pond. "I thought that we might be formally introduced, as we have just both been knighted in one hour."

Lohengrin looked up at him and, without a word, made to rise before his liege lord.

"Oh no, please! Don't get up."

Usually when Siegfried said this, or some such phrase, the person he addressed would insist on getting up none the less, and bow most ardently. Lohengrin however shrugged, and allowed himself to fall back onto his backside.

Siegfried blinked at him.

"So," he finally said, attempting to restart the conversation. "You are Parsifal's son, and-"

"_Lohengrin._ My name is _Lohengrin,"_ the boy said without looking up.

"Yes of course." Siegfried said. This Lohengrin was not the easiest conversationalist. The Prince clasped his hands behind his back and rocked in place for a moment as he surveyed the pond and the birds upon it. "My name is Siegfried," he offered brightly.

Lohengrin's hand, which had been rhythmically running the rock along the sword, stilled. He looked up at the Prince with such a gaze that the latter felt like a complete idiot. "I know. You are the crowned prince of my country."

Siegfried turned pink. "Yes of course." He swallowed, looked away, and then looked back again after a moment, his mouth open with a new conversation.

"Look, I'll spare you the trouble." Lohengrin once more interrupted his attentions to his sword to look up at the prince. "I'm a second son, and thus of little importance. I am here to be a knight, and a good one, because the alternative would have been the cloister. I'm an unpleasant fellow by everyone's account, and I know this because everyone has told me so. Ergo, there is no need for you to be agreeable to me. I am sworn into your service and that of your family, and will do my duty with honor, regardless of your chivalrous attitude. So you may as well lavish it elsewhere." With that, and with an acknowledging nod as a bow, the young man went back to his sword, while the young Prince stood with his mouth now fully open, and with no conversation to speak of. [10]

"Prince Siegfried!" a voice called out to him across the courtyard. The Prince turned to see his nursemaid waving to him to get his attention. "Prince Siegfried, your parents are waiting for you!"

Siegfried turned once more to look at the sitting knight, who had now sheathed his sword once more, and was wrapping it in a traveling cloak. He did not spare another glance at the Prince. Siegfried turned again, and swept out of the courtyard. [11]

**…**

"Ah, Siegfried," his mother smiled at him as he entered the room, lowering her glass of wine. She sat at the small, round day-table at which she and his father usually liked to play cards. His father stopped his pacing of the room to look at him. Siegfried bowed to his parents respectfully.

His mother inclined her head in turn. His father indicated to one of the two empty seats that remained at the table, taking a seat himself. The prince joined the king and queen.

"Son," Mime finally said. "Please unclasp your sword and place it upon the table."

Siegfried blinked at him in surprise, but then dutifully did as he was asked. The hilt, with its superbly crafted swan wings, caught the already waning light which pooled in through the long windows as he rested it on the table.

Mime sighed, and placed a hand upon the sword. "This day you became a protector of our kingdom, sworn to defend all those in need, with _this _sword." He nodded to himself, composing his own thoughts. "However, this is no ordinary sword. It is not like the sword which we bequeathed to the other young man knighted on this day."

Siegfried's thought flashed back to Lohengrin by the pond.

"Your mother and I now feel that it is time to tell you of the true nature of the duties that you have been given," Mime added heavily. He exchanged glances with Sieglinde who, with a hesitant nod, encouraged him to continue. He looked to his son once more. "This sword is a heart-shatterer. It is the only one left of its kind." [12]

Silence hung heavy about them for a moment. Siegfried did not know what the words meant, but a shiver went up his spine at the mention of them. He wondered if, perhaps, everyone would have known what a heart-shatterer was… back before the day of his birth.

"It is, as I said at the ceremony, of old magic." Mime's eyes traveled back to the sword which had, until that morning, been his. So many wars fought with this sword. And yet, strangely, he could hardly remember any of them, as though all that he had felt in those turbulent times had flown from him.

Perhaps he was the better for it.

"It is a relic of a bygone era," he finally added. "And it is a power that is granted only to our bloodline through this, our ancient sword." [13]

Siegfried sat before his parents, stunned. He looked upon the beautiful sword again, now with new eyes. A power granted only to him? Such a thing seemed beyond imagining. That morning he had known that he was being granted the responsibility of the protection of his realm. However, this was something else entirely.

"It is a _forbidden_ power – the breaking of hearts." [14]

His father's voice halted all thought that had been racing through his mind. Once more he looked up into his father's face. Mime nodded. "Our own ancestors forbade the use of it. It was too great a power, at too mighty a cost."

There was a long moment of silence between the three that sat at that table.

"However," Mime continued, even as Sieglinde looked away, "it is a power that you must be taught."

Siegfried flinched. "Why?" he whispered. Why would his father want him to learn such a power that sounded so terrible, even in the utterance?

"Because, Siegfried," the king answered, "this too is one of the burdens of our rule. Though the breaking of hearts is a terrible power, it is one which our line must always be aware of. We, who are its only keepers, and its only guards… My son," Mime now reached out his old, wrinkled hand to grasp that of his much younger son. "It can be a power of terrible evil. But it is also a power of terrible sacrifice." He swallowed, willing himself to continue. These were memories he had not thought on in a long, long time. They were difficult to conjure. He had grown unaccustomed to pain. "To shatter another's heart is an act of unspeakable cruelty, and one from which you must always guard this sword. You must protect it from ever being turned to such a purpose. However," he gathered his thoughts. "However, with this sword one can also shatter one's own heart. And the shattering of one's own heart… It can subdue the greatest darkness. The legends say that, by the magnitude of such an act, one of our bloodline may invoke the greatest of powers. Any evil that opposes him is brought to heel, imprisoned by the shimmering feathers of the purest, great swan – the god who first granted our family this sword." [15]

Siegfried's grip tightened on his father's hand. He stared at the hilt of the sword which, mere hours before, he had seen for the first time. After a moment he looked above his parents' fireplace. Here too hung the emblem of their house. Their family crest. The white swan atop a crown. A feeling of resolve took hold the Prince. "Very well father, mother. I will do as you ask. I will learn this power, and shoulder the responsibility of our house, as a Prince should."

His father nodded at him, forcing a smile. His mother simply stared. Siegfried gave his father's hand a last squeeze. Then he stood and, with a final bow, took up his sword again, and left his parents' chambers.

"You know this may well be the means by which the prophesy comes to fruition," Sieglinde said after the door had closed behind her son. Her eyes stayed fixed upon it.

"That will never be," Mime said resolutely, getting up to pour himself a glass of wine. "Darkness has been banished from this kingdom. We live in peace. There will never be so great and terrible a threat in our son's life that he should have to give so great a sacrifice."

In once swig, he swallowed the bitter taste.

**…**

Some months passed.

Siegfried met with his father, unbeknownst to any save his mother, and learned from him the art of shattering a heart. On this day, more so than on any previously, he was preoccupied. Today, at long last, his father had taught him the words by which to invoke the sword's power.

"_Speak the words after me," Mime said to his son. Again they sat at the little card table which had, mere months before, seemed such a harmless place of frivolity to Siegfried. As before, between them lay the sword. Neither touched it._ _"Into this sword…"_

"_Into this sword…"_

"_Which broke apart a prince's heart…"_

_Siegfried swallowed, and his eyes again chanced down at the sword. He took a deep breath, and met his father's steady gaze. "Which broke apart a prince's heart…"_

"…_and destroyed the wicked…"_

"…_and destroyed the wicked…"_

"_Bestow power once again."_

"_Bestow power once again."_

_His father had nodded solemnly. "Commit those words to memory, my son. And, upon the completion of the verses, grip the sword over a lake, or some such body of still water, so that the sword will cut your hand, and the blood will mingle with the water. The water will blacken. Then allow the bloody tip to sink into the mixture. The mixture will take hold, and climb upon the blade all the way to the hilt. It will become a sheath in and of itself. Draw the sword from the water with purpose. By this act, the black sheen upon the blade will shatter, and the sword's true power will be awoken." Mime stared at his old weapon and, after a long moment, whispered, "May that never be…" _[16]

It was in such an unsettled mood, dwelling on this latest lesson and sitting on his own throne to the left of his father the king in the Great Hall, that he and his parents heard from a messenger that the Lady of the Owl Clan had arrived at the castle, and wished for a royal audience.

Sieglinde made something of a derisive sound. Mime gave her a look. This was all lost on their son, however. Indeed, until the trumpets within the very Hall sounded to announce the Lady's arrival, he was entirely lost to musings. With the trumpets, however, he jolted to attention.

The oaken doors on the other end of the Hall opened wide and in swept a tall, imposing woman, with hair that fell down well past her waist. She was beautiful. Siegfried could see that much, even from here. A curving body and a striking face, she swayed her hips as she made her slow, easy walk across the entire length of the Great Hall. Her hair was pigmented to have a sheen of green. On her right shoulder sat a small, brown and black owl and, as she walked, she raised a porcelain hand with long red nails to scratch it under its chin. The woman was adorned in deep brown fir. At least… patches of it. Her clothing left little to the imagination. [17]

Following her was an entourage of four men and one lady in waiting. Each one of them wore the same fur, though in more ample quantities. Siegfried had heard of the Owl Clan. They were a powerful family. However, they were not well loved at court. Siegfried felt that he could understand why. In their presence he felt an emotion that he was unaccustomed to. Uneasiness. Some said that, before the purge, they had practiced dark witchcraft. Upon reaching the few steps that led up to the thrones, the Lady and her party made the appropriate bows and curtsies.

_Still,_ he thought, _I am sure that the Lady is a noble leader of her tribe. _He gave her a warm smile.

"Lady Eule, to what do we owe this surprise?" the queen said with a smile. If Siegfried had not noticed before his mother's displeasure at the arrival of these guests, he noticed it now. [18]

"Your Majesties, Prince Siegfried," the woman flashed him a disarming smile. She seemed lovely. "I hope that you are all in good health, and good temperament."

"We have all been extremely well. What is your pleasure?" the queen responded coolly.

One of the men in the Lady's entourage made a deep bow and spoke. "The Lady Eule comes before your graces now with a proposition."

"…We are listening," King Mime answered.

What a strange emotion, this disquiet. Siegfried was wholly unaccustomed to it. He looked about him. Was he the only one so affected?

Lady Eule smirked at the king. "A union," she stated, "between the houses Swan and Owl." Again, her eyes fixed upon Siegfried. "The Prince became a protector of the realm months ago. He is of marrying age. He now possesses Nothung. And _I…_ Well, I am still a woman of great beauty." She looked back to the king and queen. From what Siegfried could tell she was thoroughly reveling in the look on his mother's face. "I do not think that an offer from the head of the Owl Clan is anything short of a match well struck."

The king opened his mouth to answer.

"_No."_

Son and father looked to Sieglinde. She sat erect in her throne, yet poised. Though she was so much older than many of the mothers at the court, Siegfried was suddenly struck with how beautiful she was, with her silver hair and arresting blue eyes. And she was now surveying the Lady Eule with all of the disdain of a protector in her own right, not of a kingdom, but of a single human life.

Lady Eule's smirk wavered. She again turned to look at the king, her mouth open with more words.

"I believe you heard me quite clearly," the queen interrupted her before she could even fully draw breath. "Lady Eule, were I not certain beyond all doubt that all darkness had been banished from this land, I should say that you keep the company of ravens, not of owls."

In the silence that followed the small owl on the Lady's shoulder let out a piercing squawk, and flapped its wings, before settling once more. The Lady, after a moment, cocked her head to one side, and looked from the king back into the eyes of the queen.

There was no smile there now.

"You distrust me, do you?" she finally said, her hand now poised on her hip. "Well then, I suppose that certainly makes you different from your pretty, pretty son." Siegfried became perfectly still as the Lady's eyes rested upon him. She truly was an owl. And he was a mouse. "A heart that loves everything. A heart that forgives all. This is the heart we have been searching for," she sized him up. The ominous statement hung in the air. "After all, what woman would not want such a husband?" she finally added on, almost as an afterthought. [19]

"You have your answer, Lady Eule," King Mime answered, his fingers gripping into the arms of his throne. He too seemed to have had enough.

After a moment longer the Lady made her bow to king, queen, and prince. Her entourage did the same. As she straightened up, she surveyed them all one last time. The owl screeched. She and Siegfried locked eyes. He held her gaze. She smirked, "Well, won't you be just the little _heartbreaker."_

Without another word, Lady Eule and her train swept from the room.

**…**

**Footnotes:**

[1] State of the kingdom is drawn from _This Pendent Heart,_ Epilogue. p.167

[2] Crest is featured in the stained glass window of the dance studio in _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.1

[3] An illustration within _The Prince and the Raven_ depicts a young Prince Siegfried with blond hair, drawn from _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.3. Image on my Profile Page as _P&amp;Rno1._

[4] "Parsifal" is the father's name in Richard Wagner's 1850 opera, _Lohengrin._

[5] The castle in _This Pendent Heart_ is referred to as the New Swan Stone Castle. _The Prince and the Raven_ takes place in the old one, before the war. Ch2. P17

[6] As in_This Pendent Heart,_the castle in the story is modeled after Neuschwanstein Castle, the real New Swan Stone in Germany. Footnote from Ch2. p.17

[7] The Prince's sword is here described as it appears in _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.8

[8] "Nothung" is the name of Siegfried's sword in Richard Wagner's 1876 opera, _Siegfried._

[9] The description of Lohengrin's sword is from _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.10

[10] Lohengrin's brother is drawn from the tale _Knight of the Swan_.

[11] Fakir wraps a sword for transport in such a manner in _Princess Tutu (manga),_ Vol.2. Ch9. p.2

[12] That the Prince's sword is the only one that can shatter hearts is drawn from _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.13

[13] That the Prince is the only one who can shatter hearts, with the use of this sword, is drawn from _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.2

[14] That the breaking of hearts is a forbidden power is drawn from _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.1

[15] The Monster Raven is seen so pinned down in _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.14

[16] The ritual is drawn from that which Fakir performs in _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.8

[17] The Lady of the Owl Clan is based on the character of Edel from the _Princess Tutu (manga)._ She is not to be confused with the character of the same name from the _anime._ In the manga this character is shown in association with owls, and is an underling of the Raven, who never makes an appearance. She is the foremost villain of the story, and is here represented as a minor character.

[18] Just as Krähe (or Kraehe) is the German word for Crow, and is the name given to the "Raven's Daughter" in _Princess Tutu (anime),_ and just as the duck who became a girl is named Duck (or Ente, in her native German), so I thought it appropriate to name Edel's character, the Head of the Owl Clan, Lady Eule – Eule being German for Owl. It also has some echoes of Edel's name.

[19] This is a notion conveyed by Edel in the _Princess Tutu (manga),_ Vol.2. Ch7. p.2


	3. Of Loyalty and Love

**Chapter Three**

**Of Loyalty and Love**

Lohengrin rode into the stable with a clatter of sounds and brought his horse to a staggering halt. _"Whoa_ there, Lamiere. Steady. _Steady." _[1]

She was a beautiful brown mare, and a little tempestuous. The horse knocked her hoof against the cobblestone a few times to express her displeasure at being arrested. Lohengrin smirked. "I know, I know. I don't like being cooped up here all day with nothing to do either." [2]

As he slid off his saddle, a stable boy came running up to him. He looked as though he'd been sleeping. The sound of Lohengrin's arrival must have been what woke him. The knight handed off the reigns. "Walk her around the courtyard a few more times before you settle her in for the night." He patted the mare on her flank, and smiled up at her.

The stable boy nodded at him groggily before taking the horse by the bridle and leading her away.

Lohengrin surveyed the inner court as he peeled off his gloves. Over in the shade, underneath some trees, sat a few ladies, laughing delicately. There, on a level patch of grass, were two noble boys sparring with sticks. They could not be more than five or six. In a year they would be handed over to instructors and be taught how to fight with practice swords, just as he had been.

Instinctively his hand came to rest on the hilt of his own sword. Though it had been more than four months since he had been knighted, the novelty of having the weapon at his side had not yet worn off.

A few gasps and some giggles pulled him from his thoughts. The ladies under the tree had fixed their attention on a new arrival. Lohengrin trailed his eyes across the yard to see that Prince Siegfried had stepped out of the castle. He was waving politely in acknowledgment to the ladies.

"Tish," Lohengrin looked away. The Prince _irritated_ him more than he could say. Those well practiced manners. That fawning attitude. He was less royal than servile. And the way that everyone was simply _taken in _by it. No one was that pure. No one was that good.

A commotion erupted behind him. Lohengrin turned with mild interest to see his mare galloping toward him from the stables. Lohengrin stumbled, and tripped onto his back. He could not move. He did not know what was wrong with him. He was paralyzed in fear, unable to act. In the next instant the dark shadow of his horse was looming over him, her hoofs poised.

Throwing up an arm, and closing his eyes, Lohengrin's last thoughts were, _Stupid stable boy. He didn't walk her around. Just packed her up and went right back to sleep._

Weight crashed down upon him.

However, it was not the weight of crushing hooves, but that of a soft body. Lohengrin looked up to find himself looking into pair of honey colored eyes. In the next moment, however, he wasn't looking at much of anything. Someone had thrown himself upon Lohengrin and gripped into his arms. By the force of the leap he had pulled Lohengrin into a tumble, and rolled the two of them out from under Lamiere just as her hooves came crashing down upon where their heads had been moments before.

Dust rose in two great clouds. Lohengrin's vision was obscured. There was shouting. Guards had been called. Finally, when the dust cleared, he found that he was lying on the ground, with Prince Siegfried lying beside him, still gripping onto him with all his strength.

Siegfried pulled them upright where they sat. His flax blond hair was soiled. His face was smeared. His suit was dirtied. And he gripped into Lohengrin's upper arms, shaking him. "Are you alright?!"

Lohengrin's mouth hung agape. He coughed. Dirt had gotten into it.

The alarm in the Prince's eyes did not abate until Lohengrin was finally able to croak out a, _"Fine._ I'm _fine."_

Relief of the sort Lohengrin had never seen pooled across the Prince's face. "Thank goodness."

He let go of Lohengrin's arms and slowly, painfully, propped himself up on his elbows to survey the court. Lohengrin followed suit.

Some of the castle guards managed to catch Lamiere. The captain of the guards was in the middle of yelling at the stable boy, and the ladies' fans were moving at the same speed as Lohengrin's heart.

"Wh…Why did you just risk your life for me?" he said, after he had managed to swallow down most of the dust he had inhaled.

The Prince slowly turned to look at him with, Lohengrin had an uncomfortable feeling, the same expression he had given the prince just a few months ago at the pond in the courtyard.

"Because you were in danger," he said, explaining it to Lohengrin as though the latter were stupid. "Because you're my knight." With that, the Prince began to clamber to his feet. Lohengrin just stared at him, transfixed. The Prince brushed himself down as best he could, and then turned to offer the knight a hand. It was then that Lohengrin realized that, through the entire experience, he had been clutching onto his gloves.

Out of sheer shock and bewilderment Lohengrin took the extended hand. The Prince helped Lohengrin to his feet. After a few moments of gaping like a fish, the knight finally found some semblance of speech within him. "I believe that I was inexcusably rude to you upon our last encounter. Allow me to make a full apology, my Prince." He made to take a bow, but was arrested by a hand on his shoulder.

He looked into the Prince's eyes.

"_Siegfried,"_ he said with a small smile. "My name is _Siegfried."_

**…**

Over the following weeks Lohengrin found himself approaching the Prince when the latter made appearances in the outer court. The Prince seemed glad of his company, as he was glad of the company of any of his people. As he observed, Lohengrin saw that, no matter how trifling the request, no matter how inane, the Prince aimed to help any of his citizens in need, as though they were each his personal friend. Lohengrin found himself lingering in the halls through which the prince walked. It was almost comical. Before, he had always vacated any place at the first glimpses of that blond hair. As the days rolled on Lohengrin found that, despite himself, he rather liked the Prince's company and, to his great surprise, the Prince seemed to like his.

Soon the knight found that the Prince would approach him almost as often as he the Prince. There was something easy in the conversations between them. It was easy perhaps because Lohengrin did not look to the Prince for the affection which he could not help but lavish on all his citizens. The knight sought him out rather because he wanted to _understand._ He wanted to understand this strange and kind youth into whose court he had been thrown. Lohengrin felt that he owed at least so much to the man who had saved his life. The affection which he began to feel for his companion was entirely subsequent.

And Siegfried... well, he in turn seemed to sense the nature of Lohengrin's initial disinterested interest in him, and loved him all the better for it.

Ere the month was even near completion, Lohengrin pledged his life to Prince Siegfried. Not merely a life of service. That he had already sworn. No, he pledged a life of love and devotion. He had been a young man without a cause to fight for, or a belief to cherish for his entire life. He still did not believe in false courtesy, flattery, or deceptive civility.

But he did believe in Siegfried.

Not long after entering into his personal service, Lohengrin learned that if it was to protect the people, the Prince never feared being injured in the line of duty. He was fearless, and loyal, and compassionate. He was, in fact, everything that he had appeared to be upon their first encounter, and everything that had alarmed Lohengrin so much. He was the kindest and most honorable man Lohengrin had ever met. [3]

Of course, Lohengrin soon also learned that being assigned to the Prince's personal guard did not mean protecting the Prince from any of his people. They all worshiped him with an almost alarming reverence. No. Protecting the Prince meant protecting him from himself.

It meant running after him when he took off after a small dog being washed away by the river. It meant yelling, cursing and pleading with him to come down from the high wall onto which he had somehow climbed to save a cat which was too frightened to make the climb down herself. It meant tearing into the courtyard pond after him, scattering a flock of indigent swans, when the Prince tried to save a waterfowl from _drowning,_ nearly downing himself. It meant keeping one eye upon him at all times because, unlike any assassin or assailant, who would have to take a rest at some time or other, the Prince's nature was always vigilant.

It had been two months since he had entered the Prince's service, and half a year since the two of them had been granted their swords. And if Lohengrin had been displeased with being cooped up within the castle with nothing to do, he was now eating his words.

It was after such an exhausting day that Lohengrin came to be stretched out in the window seat of the Prince's private chambers. Siegfried was sitting behind his desk, filling out paperwork. Beside him, on the table, stood a candle with the hours marked upon it, slowly burning to indicate the passage of time. In the calm of the afternoon, Lohengrin allowed himself to relax, and for his eyes to slide shut.

"So," Siegfried's voice brought him back to the here and now with a jolt. The Prince did not look up from the document he was poring over. "You've never actually told me…" he put his name to a piece of paper, took a blotter, and mopped up the excess ink, "…why everyone tells you that you're just an 'unpleasant fellow.'" He put one document aside, and moved on to the next.

Lohengrin blearily blinked at him for a moment. "Oh." He shifted his position a little. "Well, if it makes a difference, I'm not called that anymore," he answered evasively. Now people called him the brave knight who guarded the prince. It was a change. [4]

Siegfried, however, was not deterred. He paused in his writing, his feather quill hovering dangerously over the paper. He fixed his eyes on the young man who had become his closest knight.

Lohengrin knew that look. It was that earnest, irritating look, which would not be denied. For someone who was so good and pure of heart, Siegfried certainly had a way of getting people to do as he liked. Lohengrin sighed. "I _did_ mention that I have an older brother, yes?"

"Yes." Carefully, Siegfried placed the quill back into its inkwell. He leaned back in his leather and wooden chair, and gave Lohengrin his full attention. Lohengrin did not know if he would ever get used to being listened to so carefully.

"Well, it was only half truth, actually," he said. "I _do_ have an older brother… an older _twin _brother." He smirked bitterly just at the thought. "A few minutes, that's all. A few minutes that separate me from my birthright. Second sons are expendable."

"What is he like?" Siegfried asked quietly.

Lohengrin raised an eyebrow. "Like? Kardeiz? Hah. Though we're twins, we could not have been born less similar… though that might well have been due to the difference in our upbringing. He was bred from birth to take over my father's estate. He's… more well groomed than I am." There was a moment of silence. "You might have liked him better than me, actually." Lohengrin looked again at Siegfried. "But then, you like everybody." [5]

The Prince shrugged sheepishly. "I try to see the good in everybody."

"No, it's more than that," Lohengrin shifted in his seat, trying to get comfortable once more. "You make everyone feel loved. I've seen it. Whomever you speak to, you make them feel like the most important person in the kingdom for the duration of time that you are in their presence. It is a gift."

"Well," Siegfried said quietly into the silence that followed. "I certainly wouldn't have liked him _better _than you."

"Tish." The knight smiled wryly at the prince.

Siegfried looked down upon his unfinished documents and sighed heavily. There was still so much to be done. He then chanced a glance to the candle. The wax had burned down to the Roman numeral VI. His father would be waiting for him for their daily lessons.

"I should go," he said. The chair scrapped loudly as he got up from behind the desk.

As always, a look of curiosity flittered across Lohengrin's face. As always, he suppressed it with his usual stoic nature. "Do you want me to come with you or…?"

"No," Siegfried smiled reassuringly. It was odd. He had never had a close friend before. So, he had never had to hide his activities. He knew that he was not lying to Lohengrin about why it was he vanished every day for an hour or so. He was not lying, because Lohengrin was too good a friend to ask. Still, somehow… it felt dishonest. "I'll be back in a bit," he heard himself saying.

Lohengrin stretched. "Alright then. How do you feel about going out to a tavern when you get back?"

"Oh, no. I couldn't. I still have all this paperwork to–"

"_Good._ I'm glad you see it my way," Lohengrin let out a yawn. He had just found the perfect position. Without the Prince there for an hour, he might actually get some real sleep. "Let's go to the _Swaying Swan_. They always have good ale there."

**…**

Dusk had fallen. Siegfried and Lohengrin strode through the cobbled streets, garbed in dark cloaks to hide their fine clothes. Again, this was not because of any thieves or robbers. This was because Lohengrin refused to spend the night batting off adoring citizens from their beloved prince.

"We could have taken the–"

"No."

"But it would have been much faster than–"

"_No."_ There was no way, in this world or the next, that Lohengrin would ever be caught in the prince's carriage. Made from mother of pearl, and flown by two _majestic _white swans, the very sight of the thing made his eyes hurt. And there was certainly no way that he would have ridden to a tavern in it. [6]

Within ten minutes, as dusk was turning into night, Siegfried and Lohengrin came into the light pooling out of the loud but small tavern house before them. Over the door was tacked on a wood carving of a swan teetering drunkenly on one of its webbed feet.

Lohengrin adjusted his hood and walked in. After all, everyone knew that he was the Prince's right-hand man. If they recognized him, they would recognize the Prince.

The warm light of too many candles on too many surfaces engulfed them. Men were sitting at tables and on the floor, laughing, exchanging gossip, or playing cards. The bartender was deep in conversation with two of the tavern wenches, who were clearly having a playful laugh at the old man's expense. The bar, meanwhile, remained completely unattended. And why not. There had not been a theft or a bar fight in many, many years.

Once Lohengrin had his mug in his hand, he was the most content man in the kingdom. He was well rested, he had his ale, and he was sharing company with the man who had become his closest companion. He and Siegfried toasted glasses, and began to drink. He closed his eyes as the cool ale went down his throat.

Life could not be better than this.

The night went on in much the same fashion. They drank, talked, and relished in each other's company. It was impossible to say exactly _why_ the two got on as well as they did. Perhaps it was because, unlike every other person in the kingdom, Lohengrin did not take Siegfried's every word with unadulterated reverence. Or, perhaps, it was because Siegfried, by the very nature of his character, was the only young man alive who could stomach Lohengrin's tempers.

Perhaps it was a little of both.

"Yes, I dare say," a voice rose above the hum of conversation, "of all the tales that I know, there is none that touches my heart more than that of Princess Tutu." It would be dawn soon. The tavern had quieted down. Most of the merry makers had gone home. It was because of this that the exchange that the man was having with the bartender wafted all the way to the other end of the bar where the prince and the knight sat.

Lohengrin groaned. He was inebriated now and he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh please, let us _not _hear this one again."

"If you know this story, sir, and it does not move you, you have no sense of compassion," rebuked the man whose conversation had been interrupted.

"I cannot remember if I know it, or do not know it. All I know is that all such stories begin and end the same." Lohengrin waved his hand about. "There was a _princess._ She was _beautiful."_ With every sentence he flopped his hand a different direction_._ "She loved a _Prince._ They tried to be _together._ There was an evil _warlock._ Etcetera, etcetera. Eventually the Princess finds a way to be with her Prince. The _end."_His hand dropped to the counter with a thump. "It's an old tale."

"Ah, but that is where you are wrong, my sour sir. For Princess Tutu, though blessed with beauty, cleverness and strength, is a princess fated_never_ to be with her prince." The man took a deep swig of his ale, and rasped out, "For when she confesses her love, she turns into a speck of light and _vanishes._ Such was the curse laid upon her at birth." [7]

There was silence in the tavern. Even in a world of crime and violence such a fate would have seemed unendurable. But in the quiet of their orderly world… it seemed _unimaginable._

After a moment Siegfried swallowed, thinking hard. "Wait… I do remember… I am sure that I once _did _hear a story of her."

Lohengrin groaned quietly. There would be no stopping this now.

"Yes. It was my father's old Mage who told it to me, sometime before he passed." Even as he spoke, trying to think through the ale that he had had, Siegfried remembered the occasion. He had been no more than a boy of five at the time, he was sure of it. The old Mage had told him many stories, some of times gone by, some of immortal magic, and some of events yet to come. One such story had been that of Princess Tutu, who danced to free men's souls of their despair.

He remembered lying on the ground in front of the Mage's chair, propped up on his elbows and listening eagerly, even as the old man's words seemed to conjure the princess in the very air.

"_Where is she?"_

_The Prince asked this of the old man. The Mage, in turn, raised a great white eyebrow at the little boy, and stroked his beard thoughtfully._

"_Nobody knows that."_

"_But she appears to people, and dances with them, and rescues them, through their hearts, of the great darkness that might otherwise seize upon them?" The Mage nodded solemnly._

"_I wish she would become my princess," the prince said wistfully. "Side by side we could do so much good, and rescue the people of their sadness together, so that none need ever suffer."_

_The Prince said this and thought on her image again. Truly, he had never seen anyone suffer. Princess Tutu had, however. And she _**_saved _**_them from it._

"_Dear Prince, your wish voices nothing."_

_The old man simply smiled as he spoke._[8]

…

**Waifine's Note: **After this chapter, and before the next, there is placed in _The Prince and the Raven_ an illustration of the Mage telling a young Prince Siegfried the legend of Princess Tutu. This image can be found on my Profile Page as _P&amp;R no1. _It is from _Princess Tutu (anime), _Ep.3

**Footnotes:**

[1] Lohengrin's mare is named after Lamiere, Pasifal's aunt, and thus Lohengrin's great aunt. This is drawn from the book _Arthurian Name Dictionary_ by Christopher W. Bruce.

[2] The coloring of the horse is based on an illustration from _The Prince and the Raven_ in _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.9. Image on my Profile Page as _P&amp;R no2._

[3] "If it was to protect the people, the Prince never feared being injured in the line of duty," is a direct quote from _The Prince and the Raven_ in _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.10

[4] That Lohengrin was a brave knight who guarded the prince is drawn from _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.10

[5] Lohengrin's twin brother, Kardeiz, is drawn from the tale _Knight of the Swan_.

[6] The carriage referred to is from _Princess Tutu (anime)_ Ep.26. That it is made from mother of pearl is from _This Pendent Heart,_ Ch9. p.70

[7] This phrase is similar to the one uttered in _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.3

[8] Fragments of the exchange between the young Prince and the Mage are shown, in the original German, within the pages of _The Prince and the Raven,_ in _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.3. The translation into English is by Aorphiusrex, from the _Princess Tutu Community_ on _Live Journal._


	4. The Heaviest of Burdens

**Chapter Four**

**The Heaviest of Burdens**

"_Dear Prince, your wish voices nothing."_

_The old man simply smiled as he spoke._

"_Princess Tutu? Who is she though?" The name rolled off Siegfried's lips like a sacred prayer. "What is she? Is she a creature of old magic? She is a fairy? Or is she… just a girl?"_

_Prince asked the old man once more a question that he could not answer. The Mage would not even tell him if she was a being of the past, or of the future. _

"_People say about her," the Mage mused, making himself comfortable in his chair, "that she dons a beautiful ballerina tutu and toe shoes, and that she wears a crown upon her head." Siegfried could almost see her now, as the Mage described her. "She has shining wings where there would be arms. The wings of a swan. And, it is so, with her dancing, and with her beautiful wings, that she envelops those in need, and warms their hearts with her own beautiful soul. She is the spirit of Hope."_ [1]

Yes, he remembered the tale of Princess Tutu. But that she would face so horrible a fate if she ever confessed her love… the Mage had never told him that. The mutters and laughers of the stragglers in the in tavern continued to churn around him. Lohengrin was saying something to the bartender. Siegfried looked into his mug of ale, thinking. _Perhaps it was for the best that the Mage never told me the ending, considering how fondly I liked that story._

Still, he wondered at what fate _had_ befallen Princess Tutu.

**…**

Lohengrin muttered under his breath crossly as he staggered down the hall, trying to pull on his boots, just as the morning light was coming up. He had roused from his bed having hardly put his head to his pillow the night before, when a servant had appeared in his chambers to declare that the Prince needed his presence. With the strict instructions not to bring his sword, and to wear a comfortable tunic in place of his cloak and garb, Lohengrin was roused from his bed.

_What on earth does he need me for now? I only just left him a few hours ago!_ Still slightly drunk, Lohengrin made his way through the castle with grim, weaving, determination. _I feel naked without my sword. _It was true. Dressed in only one of his older blue tunics, with his black hair tied in a mess at the back of his head, he hardly looked the intimidating dark figure that he usually cut by day at the side of the Prince.

Finally, Lohengrin found himself blinking at the two handles on the doors leading to the Ballroom. Light was coming out from underneath the door. It was the right place, at the very least. He had never actually been in this room. The balls, the spectacle and the costumes had never truly been his delight. Trying to rub out the little bit of sleep that had had time to press upon his eyes, Lohengrin pulled one of the doors open, and stepped into the room with its many mirrors, columns, and its high ornate ceiling.

There, standing in the middle of the room, was the Prince, wearing a plain white tunic. His arms were crossed, and if Lohengrin did not know better, he would have said that the young man looked…smug. However, a noise drew the knight's attention and he looked to the balcony overlooking the Ballroom to see all of the troubadours in their places, with their instruments poised.

"Siegfried… what is going on?" Lohengrin's eyes traveled back down to his prince, now to find that the young man was extending to him a pair of slippers. With ribbons.

He was smiling a refreshed and happy smile. One would never have been able to guess that he had spent the better part of the evening in a tavern. That or, considering what was happening right now, the boy was past _all_ help. "I was feeling inspired," he said. The knight now saw that, on his own feet, he wore a matching pair of shoes to those that he held.

"…Oh no." Lohengrin shook his head emphatically. "No. Absolutely not. There is nothing in this world that could compel me." He turned to leave. To flee. He was going back to his bed. Now.

"Sir Lohengrin, as your Prince, I _command_ you to stay." His words echoed through the large empty room.

The knight froze, and slowly turned once again to face his liege lord. It might have been his imagination, but he could have sworn that the troubadours were holding back smiles. Swallowing every bit of pride, Lohengrin marched across the room, his every footstep echoing, and swiped the shoes from the Prince's hands.

Siegfried's smile only became greater, and he clapped his hands twice. From one of the other doors leading into the Ballroom entered a man with notable poise. "Your highness. Sir," he addressed both boys. "It is truly an honor to be your instructor in the beautiful art of ballet."

"Someday," Lohengrin muttered, as he pulled first one boot off, and then the other. "Someday I will let it be known to the entire kingdom what a vicious, cruel tyrant you really are." He jammed a shoe on.

Siegfried simply grinned and made an acknowledging nod to their instructor. And it seemed as though the tranquil, dream-like life would go on forever. [2]

**…**

One day an alarm was raised in the castle. One day a cygnet, a baby swan, was found dead in the pond and, sitting above it, a black blotch against the dogwood's white flowers, sat a raven.

The panic in the kingdom was absolute. And, with the panic, came fear, disquiet, and mistrust. Meanwhile, on so many rooftops, and on so many steeples, ravens began to settle, like a growing dark cloud.

To Lohengrin the dreamlike state of his life suddenly plumaged into a nightmare. No less surreal, and no less fantastical. But now, for each pleasant turn that he had once been granted it seemed that his world was now demanding payment tenfold. Each day involved news of another village swallowed by rioting. Each day more injured poured into the infirmaries. And each day it became clearer and clearer that the healers no longer knew how to heal, and the warriors no longer remembered how to fight.

King Mime burst into the council room, his robes billowing behind him as he strode. "What in this world is going on outside?!"

Siegfried, who had been pouring over some maps with Lohengrin to mark down which parts of the kingdom had been affected, froze. Lohengrin slowly looked up from son to father, and back again. Expressions flitted across both faces so quickly, and yet each was as clear as the last. As Siegfried's blood ran cold, so did a shadow of shame flit across King Mime's face.

He had never heard his father yell before.

And the king, looking back into his son's face, knew it.

Mime swallowed, and tried to calm his erratic breathing. He closed his eyes and took a steadying moment. And yet still, he could not erase the look on his son's face from his mind. It visibly upset him. Lohengrin shifted uneasily. He felt that he should not be here. This was not for him to witness. This was private.

The King opened his eyes and, not wishing to look upon his son, he fixed his gaze on the fidgeting Lohengrin – though the knight very much doubted that the King knew him by name. Rather, to him, he was probably just that young man who was always in the Prince's company. Hesitantly, Lohengrin met the King's gaze. …He could see emotions, which no one had been made to keep in check for so many years, flicker across the old king's face undisguised. _Had not his son almost died for this young man already? Something about a horse. Did they not frequent taverns together? Siegfried had never gone to the tavern before this acquaintance. It hardly seemed like a healthy friendship. _All of it. Lohengrin could see all of it. And it made his own stomach curl. Not with indignation, but with his own brand of _shame. _

"Well," the king snapped. "What do you have for me, _boy?"_

Lohengrin swallowed and, on instinct, stood a little taller. And oh, how the old king misread that. King Mime's lip twitched. It was to be indignation was it? He was no man's _boy,_ was he? Well, they would just have to see about that–

"These are the villages that seem to be most affected." His son cut through the thoughts of both monarch and knight, and dragged his father's attention away from his friend. The Prince pointed at several different areas on the map. "Crime has risen catastrophically, and uprisings are breaking out in the streets."

"Do we know what the source of the discontent is?" Mime asked, carefully steadying his voice.

"Not yet. Only that it is beyond containment."

Mime just barely suppressed the urge to swear – an urge he had not had in many years. "What about the royal guard! What about the knights! Are they good for nothing anymore?"

"The guard and the knights have lived in peace for the last many years, Your Majesty," Lohengrin spoke as respectfully as he could. But speak he did. He would defend the loyalty and diligence of the knights. Even if it was to the king himself. "They have no knowledge or experience with which to deal with such a flood." He swallowed hard. "And no, sir. We are not good for nothing. We are protectors of the realm. And we _shall _protect it at any cost."

"No." Mime responded. He looked at his son. _Not at any cost, _was written on his face. His precious boy. Suddenly, quite suddenly, a realization spread across Mime's features, of how frightened he was. How frightened, and how much more frightened because it had been so long since he had been frightened. It was infectious. Lohengrin had to look away, his hands already shaking.

The knight had to wonder if the last time King Mime had felt fear was at the thought of losing Queen Sieglinde during the birthing of Prince Siegfried.

There was a moment of silence. "What of magic?" Lohengrin offered, looking from the father to the son, and back again. "It was magic that banished the ravens the first time. Perhaps another incantation–"

"Alas, the one who performed that first spell is no longer with us." Mime appeared lost in thought. "…He tried to give me a warning upon Siegfried's birth," he whispered. Then, more to himself than to either of the boys, Mime muttered, _"Was this the outcome you foresaw, old friend?"_

"…Then we are going out there to try and quench the riots ourselves," Siegfried said softly after a moment.

Mime snapped. _"No!_ That is what the knights are for." Lohengrin knew that the king did not doubt his son had grown into a worthy fighter. Rather, he doubted his judgment. Where other warriors would know when a cause was lost or when a risk was too great, Siegfried would not. He would try to protect the whole world and break himself in the attempt. He would act like a foolish prince, who tried to protect the weak, but whose fate would only be to hut himself in the end. [3]

"Father, where Lohengrin goes, I go too."

"_He_ is _your_ knight. _You _do not defend _him!" _

"We are both protectors of the realm, father. We defend one another." His son stepped in beside Lohengrin. They were inseparable. Lohengrin felt moved and he did not know how to respond. He merely stood his ground by his Prince, as he was sworn to do.

Mime looked at the knight into whose hands had been placed the safely and good health of his one and only treasure. His only son. "If you were any friend to him," he spat, frustrated in his helplessness, "you would not let him go with you." With that the King swept from the room, slamming the doors behind him.

He was right. Lohengrin knew he was right. King Mime was a noble and just man. And he feared for his son's life. Lohengrin turned, and made to tell Siegfried that he agreed with his father. Siegfried, however, clasped his gloved hand across his mouth, stopping his words. "As you are my truest friend, you know that there is no stopping me," he said quietly.

_Perhaps he is right as well,_ Lohengrin thought as Siegfried lowered his hand and returned his attentions to the map. _After all, what harm would the villagers do to their prince? Their prince whom they have always loved so much, and who has loved them? Perhaps, if anyone, he can be the one to restore them to reason._

**…**

As they rode out of the castle gates, escorted by six other knights, the sky seemed to darken, and the storm clouds to shift, as though in profound anticipation. The taste in the air was that before an oncoming storm. The whole world seemed to be quivering with static and expectation of something to come. Something powerful.

As the party of eight rode through the surrounding streets at a slow pace they heard shouting and fighting from the city square. "That shouldn't be," Siegfried whispered. "Our contacts told us that the outbreaks were still miles from the castle.

"…Unless they lied," Lohengrin answered quietly. The horses snorted. The knights pulled in their reigns, and exchanged uneasy looks. It had been years since anyone had told a lie.

They nudged their horses to a trot, and rode into the square. Thereupon they came onto a sight the like of which none of them have ever seen within their lifetimes. Villagers were attacking fellow villagers. Fists and picks and clubs flew freely through the air. It was madness and mayhem and it was impossible to tell where one body began and the next ended.

The knights were entirely lost. Lohengrin looked about him, his lips parted, his eyes filled with the horror of a scene that he could never have imagined. And, above the din of yelping, swearing and shouting, there was the crying of crows. Lohengrin looked up… at the hundreds upon hundreds of crows perched atop the roofs surrounding the town square. It was almost as though they were spectators, egging their entertainment on. And the people… the people were the sport.

The Prince wrapped his hands around his reigns one more time. "Stay here," he said, addressing his knights. He turned to look back upon his people_. "Heyah!"_ Suddenly, with a burst, he urged his horse into the fray.

"Siegfried!" Lohengrin's cry was lost in the crowd.

As though some force protected the Prince, his white steed waded through the angry crowd, parting them, until he reached the center of the square, and reared his horse beneath the statue of his father. _"My people!"_ he cried out in a clear, earnest tone. Some of the noise abated. _"My people!"_ He cried out the louder, drawing his sword, so that it caught in the last of the dying light.

There, dressed in purple, white and gold finery, with the symbol of a shining, soaring swan emblazoned upon his chest, the same symbol as that which he had worn the day of his knighting, and Nothung in his hand, he truly looked like a divine being. Lohengrin's eyes were dazzled. The crowd grew still. [4]

Siegfried look about at them for a long moment. "Why?" he finally asked, not as a speechmaker, but as a friend. "Why do you fight? What is the cause?" He sheathed his sword. "If you are in any way malcontent, allow me to take your grievance to my father, so that it should be rectified." He chanced a glance at the crows, which too had fallen quiet. They were leaning in, as though to hear exactly what the prince was saying. He smiled reassuringly upon his people. "Please," he said, "know that you are loved, and know that whatever ills befall you, I will do my all to protect you, for I love you dearly."

As abruptly as the fighting had begun, crying and weeping began to echo through the square. Emotions ran awry. There were outbursts of _"God save the Prince!"_ and _"Long live Prince Siegfried!"_

Lohengrin looked about in wonder. He had done it. The Prince had saved the day.

Suddenly, a little girl in a light green dress who had stood nearest to the Prince's horse, reached out and touched its flank. With wide and red rimmed eyes she looked up at him and whispered, "Truly, your highness? You love me?"

The Prince smiled, and laid a hand upon her head. "Indeed little one, I do."

"But not more than me, right!?" An outcry came from across the yard. A crow let out a cry in echo. "No!" another voice rung out, "Me, Prince Siegfried! Love me, and me alone!" "He cannot love you more than he loves me!" Another crow. "Prince Siegfried, you are so grand, love me more than all the rest!" Suddenly the outcries swelled to a greater pitch than they had before. The crows atop the roofs bat their wings in triumphant frenzy.

And they pecked upon the peoples' hearts. [5]

Lohengrin watched in horror as tens of hands grabbed at the Prince's horse, his boots, and even his cloak. The knight drew his sword. "He needs us! Follow me!"

"But the Prince said to stay here!" whimpered out one of the knights, his voice laced with emotions Lohengrin had never heard before in this kingdom. Fear and selfishness.

"Then stay, coward!" he snarled. However, as he charged into the crowd, across the square, he met Siegfried's eyes. He too showed fear, but not for himself. No. For his people. And Lohengrin knew what he was asking. Cursing to himself even as he gave the order to the knights that followed him, he cried out, "Do not draw blood! They are still the Prince's people! Do not draw blood!"

With many hits from the hilt of his sword and the flat of the blade, Lohengrin carved a path which had before parted so easily for his prince. He made it just in time. Siegfried was doing all he could to stay on his horse. Lohengrin burst in upon the offending villagers like a fiend out of hell. He and the other knights surrounded the Prince and, fighting every inch of the way, they half rode, half dragged him from the people who clawed and pawed and cried for his return.

"Shut the gates behind us!" Lohengrin bellowed as they galloped back into the castle with the speed of fury. _"Shut the gates behind us!" _The townspeople ran after them, almost at their heels. As the knights hurtled into the castle grounds as one unit, a protective shell about their Prince, the long unused hinges of the castle gates began to moan.

Lohengrin dismounted, staggering, and ran to Siegfried's side. He was slumped in his saddle, his clothing torn. "Come on, Siegfried. I've got you," he said, wrapping his arms around the Prince's torso as one knight held his horse steady while another took his sword. "Come on." The Prince slid into Lohengrin's arms, barely conscious, and the two settled onto the cobbled stone of the outer court. Lohengrin breathed so heavily, and his heart pumped so quickly, that he was sure it would burst from his chest. He gripped into Siegfried's shoulders and held him, just as, not so very long ago, Siegfried had held Lohengrin when Lamiere had run rampant.

Suddenly, the wailing in the air became deafening. Lohengrin looked up just in time to see the castle gates, which had remained open all these years for any passerby to enter, now shut with a deafening noise. The last thing which he saw of the world outside the castle was that same little girl who had first reached out to Siegfried, her face covered in scratches, screaming like a banshee.

There was something almost crow-like about her.

Chaos was everywhere. Lohengrin merely rocked Siegfried in his arms, looking about them, half dazed with the sight. "Well Prince," he whispered, not knowing if Siegfried could hear him or not, "Before... I said it was a gift that you had, to make everyone feel unique and beautiful. I do not know if it is such a gift any longer."

The crack of thunder filled the sky and lightning flashed all about the kingdom. Noblemen and ladies pointed to the heavens in horror and, as Lohengrin looked up, he saw two deep, red eyes look back upon him, as great black wings enveloped the entire sky. "It… it can't be," he whispered. What manner of magic could have made a Raven of such size and darkness?

The storm had broken.

The dark monster chuckled, causing the earth itself to shake. As it opened its great beak Lohengrin could see a deep hellfire glowing at the back of its throat. "Prince,"the Raven growled, almost lovingly. _"Prince!"_

In his arms Lohengrin felt Siegfried shifting back into wakefulness. "Careful," he whispered, "don't get up too fast."

Siegfried opened his eyes, looked past Lohengrin, and stared into the eyes of darkness itself. Lohengrin watched as his jawline set, and a fire of his own kindled in his eyes. It was one of determination, of courage, and of valor, and it warmed Lohengrin to the core. The knight helped the prince to his feet.

"I am here, if you wish it. What do you want with this realm?" Siegfried called up, addressing the Monster Raven. He smiled down upon him, and Lohengrin drew his sword, even as he supported Siegfried on his feet. Though what good a sword like his against a colossus of that size?

"_Prince,"_ the Raven almost cooed. "We meet at last." He seemed to smack his beak. "I have pecked at many of the loving hearts of your people. It has truly been a delight. For…" his smile widened, and created a gash of red across the endless sky. "…with every act you make to save them, and with every declaration of love that you have ever given them, their own love has only fed and will only feed me more fully." [6]

The Prince turned pale at this news. Still, he stood tall, leaning as little of his weight as he was able upon Lohengrin's shoulder.

"In the end," the Raven continued, shifting his great and powerful wings across the sky. "I thought to myself, _I'd like to try eating the Prince's heart: the most delicious one of all." _[7]

Lohengrin could not tell if the noise that issued from the Monster Raven's beak next was that of a crow's cry, or of a dark, sinister cackle. The earth shook once again.

He gripped onto Siegfried all the more tightly.

"Too long have your people lived stripped of the dark emotions that make life what it is! They had lived with no ambition, no envy, no covetousness. You have kept them in a comatose state, naked without their truest feelings! Their most sinister desires! I return now to restore balance to this cursed land! Now, let the people of this kingdom be rebaptized!" With this the Raven flapped its mighty wings. Thunder boomed, and lightning cracked.

For a moment, that was all. For a moment, as Lohengrin and Siegfried looked around, nothing more seemed to have happened.

Then came the screams from the other side of the wall that enclosed the castle. The young men looked up to see that a rain was falling upon the kingdom. That is, upon all the kingdom but the castle.

"That doesn't make any sense," Lohengrin whispered. "Why wouldn't the rain reach the ground?"

"That's not rain," Siegfried answered, his eyes fixed on the sky. "It's something else. Something evil. And one of the Mage's old spells must be keeping it out of the royal grounds."

On the other side of the wall, the screams got louder. "My god!" The guards standing on the parapets backed away, putting as much distance as they could between themselves and the rain falling mere feet beyond their post. "The people!" one cried. "Look what it's doing to the people!"

With a lurch Siegfried tore himself from Lohengrin's side, and coursed across the courtyard. He flew up the staircase leading to the top of the wall.

"Prince!" Lohengrin gave chase. His lungs were on fire by the time he got to the top of the steps, where Siegfried had frozen, his eyes fixed upon his kingdom, now drenched in…

"_Blood,"_ Siegfried whispered. "Raven's blood."

As though they watched through a window, and just beyond the final stone that marked the barrier between castle and kingdom, Siegfried and Lohengrin looked upon the people they had sworn to protect.

Dancing in the streets, crying out, and flapping their wings in a frenzy, was a city of crows. In horror Lohengrin realized that he could just make out one little crow in a light green dress. They watched as, feathered and beaked, the townspeople fell upon one another. Lootings, beatings, they all ran rampant. Through every street, at every corner. It was like a grotesque play. And the prince and the knight had the finest seats in the theater.

It was like some mad carnival of debauchery. "A Festival of Crows…" Siegfried whispered. [8]

"Your Highness!" A guard ran up to them along the wall. "All of the knights who were still outside coping with the riots have also turned into crows. We cannot let them back in! We are hopelessly outnumbered! And the Owl Clan has pledged its loyalty to the Raven!"

Siegfried looked at him, his eyes so full of pain that they actually appeared dulled. "Why?" he simply asked.

"Sir," the guard swallowed. "They are spreading a rumor about you. They are going so far as to say that your heart has the power to grant any wish, and must therefore be fed to the Raven." [9]

Lohengrin snorted. It seemed that, though this kingdom, which had gone so long without conflict, was well adapted to the behavior that went along with it. Today the knight learned that when war came, rumor and superstition were never far behind. He once more placed a hand upon the Prince's shoulder. "Come," he said. "Let's go in. There is no need for you to see more of this. We must prepare for _war_."

_War._ A word that had not been spoken in the kingdom for many, many years.

With some effort he turned the prince back in the direction of the stone steps leading down from the wall. "Those poor, poor creatures," Siegfried said, finally allowing himself to be torn away from the sight. As he did so Lohengrin could not help but wonder if the prince was referring to the townspeople, or to the mangled birds that they had become. As a prince who loved all, with which side did he feel empathy? With one final glance Lohengrin saw the fledgling crow tearing apart its own green dress; he shuddered, and directed the prince down the steps. [10]

Still, the knight could not help but cast a sidelong look at his liege, wondering at the struggle he went through. It seemed that a heart too pure was an awfully heavy burden. [11]

**…**

**Footnotes:**

[1] Fragments of the exchange between the young Prince and the Mage are shown, in the original German, within the pages of _The Prince and the Raven,_ in _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.3. The translation into English is by Aorphiusrex, from the _Princess Tutu Community_ on _LiveJournal._

[2] As ballet was already in _The Prince and the Raven_ by virtue of Princess Tutu's presence, I felt that it needed at least one other acknowledgment within the story's universe for it to be integrated properly. Perhaps it was because of such a scene as this that Fakir chose to enlist Mytho in the ballet department of Gold Crown Academy, as opposed to any other of its departments in Fine Arts.

[3] This notion of the foolish prince is drawn from _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.9

[4] Siegfried is here dressed in the same outfit that he wore in _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.26

[5] The notion of the people wanting the Prince's love all to themselves, and that the Ravens pecked upon their hearts, is drawn from _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.24

[6] The notion of the Prince's hopeless efforts, and that the people's love only fed the Raven, is drawn from _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.24

[7] Quote drawn from _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.24

[8] It is remarked that the events in _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.25, "look exactly like the Crow Festival scene that took place in the _Prince and the Raven."_

[9] This notion, which in this story is no more than an Owl Clan rumor, is drawn from _Princess Tutu (manga), _Vol.2 Ch7. P.13

[10] The idea that the Prince must love even fledgling ravens is expressed in _This Pendent Heart,_ Ch11. p.82

[11] The last line is a direct quote by Drosselmeyer from _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.3


	5. No Matter the Cost

**Chapter Five**

** No Matter the Cost **

Lohengrin paced through the courtyard, looking at nothing but his own shabby boots. There was nothing to look at now. Many of the windows surrounding the enclosed space had been cracked, broken, or covered with planks to keep the draft out. The dogwood tree had died from neglect sometime in the last year or so, yet its dark carcass still remained. And the lake was now a stinking swamp. There were no more swans, and no more ducks. In fact, no one had seen any kind of bird other than a raven in years. [1]

Years. Yes. The Prince had been battling the Raven for what seemed like endless years. [2]

Lohengrin stopped, rocked in place for a moment, and then turned. "Damn." He was late. The Prince and his scouting party were late. It should only have been a three day mission. And yet, now on the fourth day, there was still no sign of them. Lohengrin _knew_ that he should not have let him go. But then… since the death of his parents…

King Mime had been first. In the months following the Raven's coup Lohengrin had seen in his king both the warrior of whom he had heard so much from his own father, and the man, fearful and broken by the one task that had been entrusted to him and the one task he had been unable to complete – the protection of his kingdom.

He too had been a protector of the realm. The first among protectors. None had dared defy King Mime when he ordered that the gates be opened. He them rode out, alone, and charged upon the onslaught. Siegfried only found out when he came upon his mother, standing ghostly silent by one of the windows, looking like a specter, with tears in her eyes.

The guards would not open the gates again for their Prince that day. It had been their king's last command – to keep the gates _shut._ Siegfried and Lohengrin had torn to the tallest tower as fast as their legs could carry them. From that height they had watched as the army of ravens flocked Mime, engulfing him. He died before he allowed himself to be turned into one of them. He took many of them with him, but he died none the less, claimed by the despair of the duty he had failed. Old King Mime was no more.

Queen Sieglinde… She lasted longer. She sat upon her throne, next to the vacant place of her husband, and ruled. She did what she could to ease her son's burden as he tried to scrounge together an army from the handful of men still within the castle walls. However, in the end, she too was taken. She could not live without the King, whom she had loved so entirely. Lohengrin still remembered how she had fought her own despair, even upon her deathbed, until it claimed her all the same. [3]

Lohengrin heard a clank of noise behind him. He turned. There, leaning against one of the cracked archways, in full armor, was his Prince. The knight saw him teeter, and his sword slipped through his gauntlet-clad fingers. Lohengrin tore across the court and caught his liege just as Siegfried fell. "What were you thinking? Why did you not take off your armor when you first arrived?" Lohengrin hissed.

Siegfried groaned. "Wanted to see you first… Knew you would be worried…"

"Foolish Prince," Lohengrin breathed as he fastened his hand around the rim of Siegfried's helmet and pulled it off of him. The helmet clattered to the ground, and Lohengrin breathed in sharply. "Siegfried…" he whispered, "…your _hair." _

Now that he thought about it, Lohengrin could not remember the last time that the two friends had seen one another out of their helmets. There was no time for leisure now. No time for dance. When they saw one another now, it was on horseback, swords drawn, before or after battle, or on the way to or from the council rooms. Now that he thought about it… Lohengrin could not even _remember_ the last time he had seen Siegfried out of armor.

The Prince's hair, which had always been blond, cascaded out of the helmet now in silver trestles. Lohengrin blinked at it, mesmerized and horrified in one. With the war, the death of his parents, and the destruction their entire kingdom, Siegfried's hair had become sheer white.

"Haha…" Siegfried laughed weakly. "Ah… I was wondering how long I could keep you from noticing. It's been going for quite a while now." Lohengrin eased him to a sitting position and, as his Prince looked up into his face with an exhausted smile, he understood just _why_ he had not noticed. His eyebrows were still a light brown, and their original color. They were all that was left of it.

**…**

Lohengrin awoke with a start. Sleep did not come easily to him anymore. His entire body was stiff and sore and he felt that his fingers could hardly grip a sword any longer. He did not even note the sound of crows outside his window, outside the castle. It was a sound he was so accustomed to that he could hardly take any regard of it. Still, he looked up from his bed, at the darkness that poured in through the panes of glass. He had not seen light in so long, with the body of the Monster Raven blotting out the sun… he had practically forgotten what it looked like.

The only illumination in this kingdom now, aside from the few remaining and swiftly depleting candles, was that of the flashing of thunderbolts, and the occasional fires that could be seen ravaging the towns beyond the wall. Lohengrin sighed. The world was colorless to him.

With a heave he rose from his bed. He would press on. He would never stop protecting the prince to whom he had pledged his sword and his love. Sometimes Lohengrin tried to remember the life he had led before he met Siegfried, before he had come to Swan Stone Castle to be knighted. It all seemed like another world now. He splashed his face in the freezing water from his basin, before slowly looking up into the mirror propped upon his nightstand. His entire body was covered in nicks and small scars from ravens' claws and crows' beaks. Lohengrin pressed his fingers against one of the fresher wounds on his arm, lost in thought.

He needed to hurry, or he would be late to the morning meeting in the council room. Mopping up his face with his own tunic, and strapping on his sword, Lohengrin prepared himself for whatever this new day of darkness would bring.

When he entered the council room some ten minutes later it was as though he had stepped into a hive of activity. For a moment, Lohengrin almost wondered if he had come to the wrong place. But no, for there, standing at the table in the center of the room, distinct from all others by his mop of white hair, Siegfried was leaning over their battle plans.

He looked up as Lohengrin entered, and the knight saw a fire in his eye that he had long feared had gone out. It was the same fire which he had seen the first time Siegfried had clapped eyes on the Raven.

"Lohengrin!" Siegfried called out, gesturing for him to come forward. The knight maneuvered his way through the jostling courtiers. They too had changed over the years. Lohengrin remembered how these men had appeared on the day of his knighting. He had looked down upon them then with their jovial faces, and their enthusiasm for their Prince's coming of age. He had thought them a silly people. Now, however, as he looked into first one harrowed face after another, he wished more than he could say for a return to that time. Lohengrin came to stand by the side of his Prince, who proceeded to point a glove-clad finger at the map. _"There,"_ he said. _"There _is where the defenses are weakest, and_ there_ is where we will be able to reach the Raven himself!" He looked about him at the members of court in the chamber, smiling encouragingly. "Our rangers brought us this news last night. We finally have what we need to defeat him. We ride in one week. Let these days be the _last _days of the Crow Festival." He pressed his fist firmly upon the table. The room was filled with exclamations of _"Hear, hear!"_ The men's features showed disbelief and hope, arranged haphazardly on their faces.

Lohengrin felt the blood pounding through his veins. After all the suffering and all of the darkness, would these days truly see the coming of the light? He clasped his hand on his Prince's shoulder. "Then I shall ready for battle," he said hoarsely.

Siegfried smiled. "I will look for you on the field. Then, together, we shall bring this Monster Raven down."

**…**

Filled with a resolve that Lohengrin had not felt in years, the knight marched through the dark castle. About him the air was filled the ringing of metals as armor and swords were inventoried and as spears were gathered. For the first time in years the sound of crows was blotted out.

In one week he and Siegfried would take up arms one last time, and attack the Raven directly. The Raven spoke so often of the taking of hearts. Well, now they would strike _him_ at the heart. Together, the prince and the knight would ride forward, and they would at last bring to an end this Armageddon.

Light splashed upon him. Lohengrin almost flinched as though he had been scorched, so unused and shocked was he by the sensation. He looked down upon himself to see that he was bathed in so many different colors; it was almost as though it was… _"Stained-glass,"_ he whispered. Lohengrin looked up to see that the light was coming through an archway. Mesmerized, he followed, and found himself in a small, discreet chapel.

He knew this place. The Prince had taken him here, in happier times. This was where Siegfried had been baptized. The Chapel of Hope, it was called. And there, in the one stained-glass window that rose just above him, was depicted the swan on the crest of Siegfried's house.

_No…_ Lohengrin thought, coming nearer. No, the swan upon Siegfried's crest was a resting swan, perched atop a crown. This swan, however, was flying, her rainbow-touched wings spread wide on either side of her, the tiara gleaming atop her head. It was the same as that which Siegfried had embroidered in golden rays upon his purple garb, which he had worn that last time they ventured beyond the wall. The same as he had worn on his white tunic, the day of their knighthood. The image seemed to envelop Lohengrin as he stood before it.

He did not know why or how there could be light here, now, in such a world of darkness. The knight felt his mouth go very dry and, though he had never before felt the need to do such a thing since the day that King Mime had given him his sword, he took a knee.

For one moment, he gave himself to that light. It gave him Hope.

Lohengrin wrapped his fingers on the door of the castle smith some hours later, and opened it. He could just make out the man by the red hot glow of his kiln. He was a tall man, if an older one. He had once made many swords for the battles of King Mime's day. His hands still remembered his trade, even if his heart was unsure. The shop was a furnace of activity in preparation for the coming battle. "Sorry to bother you," Lohengrin said, walking in. "But I have a commission for you. I would like you to emboss my shield. I would like it emblazoned with a swan… with soaring wings." [4]

Lohengrin thought back to that moment when he had kneeled, and how that moment had passed. War called. He had risen back to his feet and, with a final bow to the stained-glass vision, he had turned his back upon it. And he saw the light no more.

**…**

One week later, dressed in full armor and with sword and shield in hand Lohengrin rode out upon Lamiere to bring her side by side with Siegfried's own white stallion. Behind them the Prince had assembled every able-bodied knight, noble and stable boy who could bear arms. In front of them stood the gate.

The darkness crackled about them and lightening split the sky. As Lohengrin gazed above the wall, he saw the Raven's blood red eyes crack open as his interest piqued. Siegfried turned his horse to face his people, by whose side he now risked everything.

"Friends," he called over the rising wind, his white hair whipping about his face. "We have spent many years together." Thunder clapped through the sky. "We have shared losses the like of which were past our imagination for so many years." Lohengrin could not say if it was the sky or the Prince's voice that cracked. "We have known deep and terrible pain." The silence that followed these words was thick with the grief that they had all felt, for all those who had fallen over the years. For Siegfried, the silence was for his parents. _"However!_ We have _never _allowed that pain to conquer us!" A shout of affirmation went up from among the men. Siegfried drew his sword and pointed to the gate. "We have kept pain and suffering at bay long enough. Now, let us chase it from our land, once and for all!" Another shout. "We shall defeat the Raven!" Siegfried rode up and down the ranks of his men. "We shall restore the people of this realm, and free them of the raven's blood which contaminates them!" He once again brought his horse to a halt at the front of his army. "And we_ shall _live in peace once more!"

The cheers, the cries and the exclamations erupted from the crowd in a tumult. They were almost enough to comfort Lohengrin. Almost… save that, out of the corner of his eye, he could see the crack in the sky where the Raven's fiery beak began to spread into a smile.

He looked to Siegfried, who was once more by his side. "No matter what happens today," he said quietly to his knight, "we cannot fail." Then, after a moment, he added, "no matter the cost."

Lohengrin remembered the wild look of fear on old King Mime's face when the knight had uttered those same words. Lohengrin's grip tightened on his reins. He remembered with what love and fear of loss he had looked upon his son, Lohengrin's dearest friend. He could not hesitate now. "Whatever the cost," the knight nodded.

The Prince raised his hand sharply and gave the signal for the gates to open. The sound of the crows' cry deafened the entire army. They staggered. Siegfried motioned _forward._ Lohengrin set his jaw, and sent Lamiere into a gallop. Horse and man flew upon the enemy.

From that moment on Lohengrin simply stopped thinking. Instead, in flooded in every single motion he had ever studied in his training. Every block he had learned by rote. Every lunge. From the moment that Lamiere's hooves fell upon a raven's beak and Lohengrin heard the crack as it splintered beneath their combined weight his senses went numb. He did what he could to keep the Prince within his sights. However, all too often his vision was obscured by feather, beak and talon.

Lohengrin smashed through the first lines.

Suddenly, he heard a burst of a laugh at his elbow, and Siegfried was once again at his side. He too fought with all the skill that drill and war had hardened within him. "Truly, Lohengrin, you did my kingdom the highest honor on the day you came to Swan Stone for your knighthood."

"Ha," Lohengrin laughed back, even as he gritted his teeth shut and threw his full weight upon another enemy. "You can thank my father for that! He sent me to you. I was none too keen, you know. Thought your castle was a little too," he strained his sword against an enemy, and won, "cheery!" Another raven bore down upon Lohengrin and a completely different set of movements, trained into him outside of the sparing grounds, took hold. Without even thinking Lohengrin placed his feet upon Lamiere's flanks and threw himself with a leap into the air, bending his back in a _pas de poisson,_ and plunging his sword into the creature with its upraised claws.

He fell back into his saddle with accomplished grace, and took to the fight with new vigor, refusing to look into Siegfried's eye. It had been a movement that he had learned in the ballet classes Lohengrin had begrudged so much.

"Knight of the Swan," Siegfried finally called out to him through the fray.

"What?"

"Knight of the Swan. It is a rank given to only the King's most trusted and most loyal knights. The last man to receive it was my father's old friend, the Mage, when they two were young in battle together." As he spoke, out of breath, Siegfried battered off three crows in one swoop. "The title is yours, if you'll have it!" Through the chaos, the war, and the darkness, Lohengrin caught a glimpse of that radiant, earnest smile that the Prince could exude even now, after so much suffering. [5]

A knot tightened in Lohengrin's throat and his grip on the leather strap of his shield grew taught. He opened his mouth the call out to Siegfried, but in that instant the next wave of the Raven's army washed upon them with full force. Once more Lohengrin lost sight of his prince.

As he scanned the area about him, all the while pressing forward, Lohengrin suddenly found himself face to face with a tall, poised woman, hair tinted green, astride a giant screech owl with feathers of red fire, flecked black. The lady wore – if it could be called wearing – a few plates of decorative armor. And she looked all too pleased to see him.

"My, my," she said, ignoring the din about her and instead fixing her eyes down upon the knight. "You must be my Lord's knight and protector," she cooed.

Lohengrin gripped his sword firmly. By her mount he knew her to be one of the Owl Clan, and thus a traitor to the royal line. "I'm afraid that I do not know your name, woman. But then, I know the name of no betrayers."

"Oh," the woman raised an eyebrow. "Has my lord Siegfried not made mention of the time that I asked for his hand in marriage, and of how his _wicked _parents, jealous that his affection should be divided, kept us from one another?" She stretched out upon the back of her owl almost as though she were in a sitting room rather than upon a battle ground.

So, this was the Lady Eule. Though Lohengrin had now lived in the castle many years there were still faces of which he knew nothing. However, he had heard tell of the Owl Clan matriarch, and how she had come for Siegfried's hand in marriage. Lohengrin had often teased Siegfried, back in the peaceful days, on the subject, for he found it amusing that so worldly a woman would seek the hand of so innocent a boy.

The knight was not laughing now.

"Yield to me now, surrender yourself to the Prince's forces, and no harm will come to you." It was a mere formality to ask her this. He knew her answer even as she looked upon him with that nocturnal smile.

"_No."_

They fell upon each other with vicious ardor. Sword met talon, and Lohengrin was engulfed in the beating of wings, and the shriek of the owl. He felt it in his ears and in his nostrils. In the next instant Lady Eule took the creature into the skies. The knight looked up just as the owl bared its claws once more, and hurtled down upon him. His shield was all that saved him. He felt his muscles screaming beneath his skin. Every ounce of work by rote he had ever gone through, both with a sword and on the dance floor, now came to his arms as his only salvation. He swung out upon the bird and its rider, and sliced the owl along the wing, cutting its tendons. Bird and woman let out an agonized screech as one, and toppled from the sky. As with any animal, it became twice as deadly when wounded. Lamiere snorted in fear as the mammoth bird lumbered to bare down upon them once again, its eyes wide with pain and fury. Through the feathered mass Lohengrin could just make out the face of Lady Eule, battered from the fall, and just as livid as her charge.

They were upon him.

He knew this would be his only chance. With a heave of all his strength, Lohengrin plunged his sword through the heart of the owl, through to that of its mistress. The Lady Eule's eyes became round and she looked upon the knight, who felt his sword taking on the dead weight of an enemy slain.

"His heart…" she whispered, her face now mere inches from that of the knight as he struggled to hold up his sword. "…I want his heart." The light went from her eyes, and Lohengrin pulled his sword free as he allowed the bodies of servant and mistress to fall to the battleground with a thud.

"It is not yours for the taking, Lady," he whispered.

As he wiped his sword on his cloak Lohengrin looked up to the combat before him. The Owl Clan was the last defense between the Prince and the Raven, and the Knight had just dispatched with their leader. Others around him were still battling. He was the first to have broken through. Lohengrin's jaw set. He was Siegfried's first and best knight. He was the Swan Knight. He would see an end to this Raven before the Prince could even put himself in harm's way.

He would always protect the Prince.

With a _"Hyaah!"_ and a jolt to Lamiere's sides the knight drove forward, through the last lines of defense, through the darkness that shrouded about him, and through the lightening that cracked on every side of him, to halt before the Monster Raven himself. The Monster Raven's eyes were fixed on him.

"Ah, knight, how good of you to come and visit," he chuckled in his velvet voice. For how many years now had Lohengrin heard that voice cackling from his window? Seen those eyes on the horizon? Seen this monster in his nightmares? Now, after all the war and carnage, he stood before him, the plague which cursed this land.

"Raven," Lohengrin called up, "your days or tyranny end now! I have come to take your life!" He gripped his sword as tightly as he could and he held to Lamiere's reigns so that she could not stagger. This was the task he had always trained for. This was the moment that he had been approaching all of his life. He was not afraid. He was not afraid.

The Raven let out something of a sarcastic whine. "Really now, knight. And after I so ardently looked for you on the field!" He clucked his massive beak, and flapped his wings to raise hurricane winds.

As Lohengrin braced himself against the onslaught of winds the words that the Raven had uttered resounded in his mind. Someone else had promised to _look for him on the field._ Someone else, just recently, had… Lohengrin's blood ran cold. His eyes shot up once more to look upon the Monster that had ravaged the kingdom, against whom he and the prince had fought these many years, in defiance of whom the king and queen had died.

He looked upon the Raven, and he understood. For years now Lohengrin had wondered where such a colossus could have come from. Ravens and darkness were as old as the land. As old as light. But the Monster Raven… he was an anomaly. He was a creature of unnatural magic.

"You…" he whispered. "…You are the Prince's own darkness, banished from him on the day of his birth." As the prince was a being of pure goodness and charity and honor, so too was the Raven a creature of evil, of vice, and of disgrace. And yet they were two sides of the same coin. Both goodness and evil, in the absence of one another, unchecked and uncurbed, had grown into the most powerful versions of themselves. The spell that had been laid upon the land at the prince's birth had as much made the prince as it had been made because of the prince. Lohengrin now stood looking upon the result.

"Ah…" The Raven breathed out slowly, looking down upon the knight with something that almost resembled _appreciation._ "Well… Aren't you the clever little knight. Yes. I am the Prince, and the Prince is the Raven. Hence," once more that mouth split a smile across the entire sky, "I will have his heart, and be whole once again!" [6]

Lohengrin grit his teeth. "So help me, I shall strike you down with this sword ere I allow you to do him any harm!" He spurred Lamiere on. Now that he knew what the Raven was he could not allow him to live. He could not allow him to live because he now knew that his desire for the Prince's heart went so much deeper than any of the rumors perpetuated by the Owl Clan could ever have led him to believe. And he could not allow him to live because he could never allow Siegfried to know of the bond between him and this monster of darkness.

"You do not seem to appreciate the agony of being split in two, knight," he heard the Raven cackle as he charged. "Here, allow me to help you with your empathy." A shadow darker than the rest fell upon Lohengrin. The knight looked up to see one of the Raven's great talons hurtling down upon him, just as Lady Eule's owl had done none too long before. However, there would be no shield in the world strong enough to protect him from this blow.

He blinked, staring at the oncoming destruction. He felt Lamiere move beneath him, felt the weight of his sword and shield. And yet, it was like that day in the outer court when Siegfried had saved him from being crushed beneath his horse. Just so the talon descended. But there was no Siegfried to save him now.

_The Prince trusted me. Trusted me to be a Knight of the Swan. And yet here I ride, to my death, without even landing a single blow with my sword. Truly, I am a useless wretch, who could only talk of protection. Siegfried, for the suffering and hardship that my failure inflicts upon you – I am so sorry. _Lohengrin closed his eyes. [7]

Lamiere let out a terrified whinny as the Raven's talon grazed against her, cleaving the knight in two, from the right shoulder down to the left hip. Sir Lohengrin, Knight of the Swan, died in vain that day, his sword proving useless in protecting the Prince. [8]

**…**

Siegfried saw as the talon came down. He saw and, even as members of the Owl Clan whom he had previously only seen as Lady Eule's entourage tried to snare at his cloak, he fought through them, spurring his stallion on, _willing _him to be fast enough.

Lohengrin was felled down before his eyes.

Siegfried blinked. Stared. He felt as though someone had muffled all the sound in the word as he watched his friend's body slide off his horse and hit the ground. He felt his mouth opening until the corners ripped. He knew that he was screaming. He was aware that he was spurring his horse on with everything he could muster to get to the body of his friend – but he heard none of it.

It took for one of his own knights to charge in front of him, blocking his path, for Siegfried to jolt to his senses. "Sir! Sir! Are you mad!?" One of the knight's eyes had been pecked out. His face was a bloody mess. "There stands the Raven, my lord! To go there is certain death and destruction to all we have ever fought for!"

Siegfried stared past him. He could just make out Lohengrin's black hair strewn across the ground, still neatly tied back in a tail, as he had always worn it.

"Sir!" The knight bellowed into Siegfried's face. "The men's spirits are broken! Lohengrin's death is a blow we cannot endure. We _must _retreat! Come, sir!" The knight grabbed hold of the reins of Siegfried's horse and, fighting every inch of the way, pulled the prince from the battlefield. It was all Siegfried could do to bat off assailants. It was instinct, not action. His heart was not in it. His heart had been left on the battlefield with the body of his dearest friend.

**…**

The din of the crows outside the castle was fiercer than ever. Wounded knights and boys filled the outer court to the brink. Women did not have enough cloth or medicine with which to nurse the injuries. The entire castle stank of death and despair.

The Prince stumbled through the halls, not seeing, and not accepting anyone's assistance. His world had fallen into darkness. His friend… his one true friend… was dead. The Prince's legs refused their office. He teetered, and clattered against the stone wall of the passage. Sobs wracked through his exhausted form. Siegfried closed his eyes, and began to weep.

How long he stayed so, half standing, half clinging for support, he could not have said. His nails were dug into the masonry between the stones, and his entire body groaned at the unnatural attitude. He did not have the strength to unflex his grip and fall, but nor did he have the strength to right his legs and stand.

His righteous and honest father was dead. His fierce and striking mother was dead. Lohengrin, his knight… was dead. Siegfried pressed his face into the stone so that it scraped at the skin, his mouth contorted in a silent scream. What was the point of going on? What was the point of fighting anymore? What was there left to live for, even if the battle ended? The sound of crow cries filled his ears in the place of any welcome silence. He was entirely devoid of faith.

The light that broke upon his closed eyelids was like a bolt to the heart. His eyes flew open and wildly looked about him for its source. It was coming, he saw, from the archway into the Chapel. He blinked and, his joints groaning in protestation, Siegfried pushed himself from the wall. With one arm still pressed against the stone for support, he staggered forward, as a parched man staggers to water.

The Prince was standing in the Chapel of Hope.

He looked about him, still in a daze. He had not been here since before the Raven's arrival. That had been years ago. Siegfried looked up at what appeared to be the source of the light. It had been so long since he had seen light… It hurt his eyes, which rested upon the tall stained-glass window of the rising swan. Her wings were spread open, almost as if welcoming any who entered this little place of peace. She was not just any swan. This stained-glass depicted the Swan deity who, the legend said, had once imbued Nothung with its power. His father had taught Siegfried this during one of their many lessons, in the golden days. The Prince smiled weakly. He had last been here with Lohengrin. Then again… he had last been most places with Lohengrin. [9]

Pain wracked his frame up and down with such force that it left his body aching, and he closed his eyes to the pain, clutching at his heart.

The light behind his lids intensified. Siegfried put an arm up and tried to squint past it. His eyes went wide at what he saw. Slowly, he lowered his arm, his lips parted in awe. Still winged, and still all embracing, the form of the swan stepped forth out of the glass panes. Only, it was not a swan at all. It was a beautiful girl, dressed in a ballerina's dress and toe shoes, with a small crown upon her head. Not merely a Swan deity, but also _a Goddess of Dance._ [10]

Siegfried's head pounded. "Princess…Tutu…" he whispered. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked upon him. Vaguely he registered that they were the flawless blue of the untroubled sky. It was a color he had not seen in an age.

She stood _en pointe,_ her great wings raised above her head, just as they had been in the stained-glass. It was from her that the light radiated so fiercely. "My Prince," she whispered, stretching one feathered hand out to him, "please come dance with me."

Mutely, he placed his hand gently upon her wing and, his muscles remembering the dance lessons which he and Lohengrin had not had time to practice in so long, he stepped towards her. "Why have you come?" he whispered.

"Because your heart is sunk in despair," she answered as he pulled her in to a _pas de deux._ "Because you feel that there is nothing left to live for. To fight for." Gently, he dipped her into a _penché._ "But that is not true. You are a Prince who loves everyone, are you not?" He held her as steadily as he could, drawing her into one _pirouette _after another, bringing his hand firmly to her waist again and again. He remembered now how much he had loved to dance. "Therefore, there are still those whom you must fight for… whom you must protect." He remembered now that, alongside beauty, the man in the _Swaying Swan_ had attributed to her great strength.

"Whom?" he asked breathily, drawing her down into a partnering lift, holding her off the ground with all his strength.

They straightened, and she turned _en pointe_ to face him, smilingly. "Your people." For the first time since the battlefield Siegfried felt his heart beat with life. Of course. His people. He could not abandon them. Them at least he would save. Her wings rose to wrap around his shoulders. His hands rested upon her waist. Her leg extended high behind her in a perfect _grand battement._

Their faces were now a hair's breadth apart. "Do not fear that you will be left alone. Ever. Your people love you, as you love them." Her smile broke and, for an instant, Siegfried saw sorrow in Princess Tutu's eyes. "As I love you."

As his heart swelled, so too his blood ran cold.

"No," he whispered, even as he pressed her against his heart.

"As your knight's fall fed the darkness, allow mine to rekindle in you your inner light," she whispered. "Do not grieve for me. Know…that you are loved." Even as she spoke the light which surrounded them, which had already been so beautiful, began to intensify. Siegfried could hardly see her in the glow, but he refused to look away. Of course. The last of the three attributes. Cleverness. He had forgotten cleverness. [11]

"No! You cannot!"

He felt a feathered wing caress his cheek, even as the tears coursed afresh. He remembered the golden swan emblazoned upon his robes, surrounded by golden rays, so that the embroidery was more of a sun than that of a swan – and realized what he had never realized before, that it had always been a depiction of this very moment. The softness of the down grew heavy and moist with his silent weeping.

"Dear prince, your wish voices nothing," she whispered, smiling up upon him, and echoing the words which he had heard so long ago.

The light blinded him. Despite everything Siegfried closed his eyes to block out the searing flash. When he opened them again he could not see within the darkness for many, many minutes. But then, he did not need to. He could feel her weight had vanished from within his arms.

Princess Tutu was no more. [12]

Prince Siegfried clenched his hands into fists, and looked up once more upon the stained-glass window. All that he saw was darkness, and all that he heard was the flapping of wings and the cry of crows.

He would protect his people. He would defeat the Raven. He would not allow the sacrifices that were made be sacrifices in vain. Siegfried laid one hand upon the hilt of his sword, last of the heart-shatterers, and remembered his father's teachings.

Prince Siegfried was the Prince who possessed a heart which loved everyone, and he would protect everyone, even if it cost him so much more than life itself. [13]

**…**

**Waifine's Note:**Within this chapter there is placed in _The Prince and the Raven_ an illustration of the Lohengrin dying upon the talons of the Raven as he drops his shield and as Lamiere flees the scene. This image can be found on my Profile Page as _P&amp;Rno2. _It is from_ Princess Tutu (anime), _Ep.9

**Footnotes:**

[1] It is stated that there are no ducks in the magical kingdom in _This Pendent Heart,_ Ch7. p.53

[2] That the Prince battled the Raven for endless years is drawn from _This Pendent Heart,_ Ch2. p.17

[3] Despair is the Monster Raven that plagues Fakir in _This Pendent Heart,_ Ch5. p.42

[4] The image on the stained-glass window, and on Lohengrin's shield, can be seen on a page of the _Prince and the Raven_ from _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.9. Image on my Profile Page as _P&amp;Rno2._

[5] Lohengrin is known as the Knight of the Swan in Wolfram von Eschenbach's _Parzival._

[6] That the Prince and the Raven are two sides of the same coin, and that they were once one, is drawn from _This Pendent Heart, _Ch15. p.120

[7] These thoughts on the 'uselessness' of the knight are drawn on from _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.12

[8] This notion is drawn almost directly from _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.24

[9] The concept of the Swan deity is reminiscent of "the goddess of dance" that Pique mentions in _Princess Tutu (anime), _Ep.15

[10] Again, as it is implied that Pique did read _The Prince and the Raven_, it is also here implied that the concept of "the goddess of dance" came to her from this book, as she references it in _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.15

[11] Princess Tutu was said to have been "blessed with beauty, cleverness and strength," within _Princess Tutu_ (anime), Ep.3

[12] I could not write more about Princess Tutu than this bare appearance. In _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.12, it is stated that "Princess Tutu is only presented in a few sentences. A miserable existence which none of the characters of the story wanted to take on. An insignificant existence which even the story left by the wayside. Someone who could never hope to catch the Prince's eye. A little added flourish. Poor thing!" This statement is confirmed later when Princess Tutu is described as someone "about whom only a little was actually written."

[13] I felt that Princess Tutu's death had to be a truly moving and inspiring act because in _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.12, it is mentioned that Mytho "wanted to hear over and over again the part where Tutu turns into a speck of light, and then vanishes."


	6. Rothbart

**Chapter Six**

**Rothbart**

The Prince galloped out the gate as thought the fires of Hell were upon his hooves rather than above his head. He rode forth, just as his father had ridden forth, years before, alone.

Siegfried would risk no more lives, and make no more sacrifices. He had lost everyone who had ever cared for him and who had ever protected him. He in turn would not now lose anyone whom he protected. His cloak flew out about him and cracked in the wind with his speed. The desperate cries of his people to come back and spare himself were whipped out of their lips by the pace of his horse as he passed them, and lost before the words ever reached his ears. Siegfried raised his eyes to the heavens, and there he truly did see Hell. The Monster Raven was smiling down upon him as he approached with the speed of a flying arrow. He was waiting for him. The Prince would not make him wait much longer.

He tore through the lines which his men had already decimated. There were none of the Owl Clan left alive to stand between the Prince and the Raven. As his horse brought him back to the talons from which his army had fled such a short time before, the pain in Siegfried's heart redoubled at the sight splayed out before him. Lying unmoved from the time that he had fallen was Lohengrin. His face was almost completely hidden beneath that black mane of hair which was still held together by the ribbon which he tied into it every morning. His body…

Siegfried felt nausea ride through him. He gripped into his stallion with greater fervor as the beast moved beneath him, every moment bringing him closer to the body of his best knight, and the form that his knight's destroyer. But Siegfried would not give into despair. He was done with that emotion. He may very well soon be done with them all.

"Well Prince," the Raven boomed across the land, its tone resonating with delight. "Do you admire my handiwork?"

His jaw set, he waited for the precise moment and, as they passed the spot, Siegfried swung down along the body of his horse and snared Lohengrin's sword from his severed belt. It was still sheathed. His noble knight had died without striking a single blow upon the Raven. [1]

Siegfried did not slow his horse's pace. He would strike more than enough for them both. "Not so much as I dare say you will admire mine," he yelled back, strapping the second sword upon his own belt. He would destroy the Raven this day. _Or else…_ It was strange that, even with the balance of two swords, Nothung still felt so much the heavier. Siegfried's throat tightened. _Or else I will do my duty as my father's son._ _As a royal prince. As the keeper of a heart-shatterer._

He brought his white stallion to a halt, and drew it alongside the Raven. It pawed the ground, though whether with fear or mettle Siegfried could not say.

The Prince stared up into the hellfire red eyes of Monster that had plagued his lands, transformed his people, and destroyed his family. That had brought with him this endless, bloodied blackness. Yes, Siegfried _would_ restore his land, just as he _would_ restore his people. He could not fail them. Not after so many had gone to their deaths so that he might live. If the need arose… if Siegfried could not defeat the Raven… His hand once more rested upon the hilt of his sword, intricately decorated with beautiful swan feathers.

_At least by doing so I should bear it alone. I alone should suffer… in that I will not even know what suffering is. Or joy. Or happiness. Or anything._

"You have come alone I see." The Raven cut through his thoughts with a sound of deep satisfaction. "Truly, you are a foolish Prince! One who tries to protect the weak, but shall only end up hurting yourself and losing your heart, _which I shall gorge upon!"_ [2]

Siegfried could have smiled at how, one way or the other, the Raven was very right in the prediction of his fate, though the Monster of course could not know that yet. "You did not actually believe the rumors of the Owl Clan did you?" he called out bitterly, wanting to know the reason behind all of this, if reason of any sort there could be. "That my heart had a power to grant any wish?" The idea seemed too ludicrous to entertain. And yet here, staring into the mouth of Hell itself, anything seemed possible. "Did you actually believe that my _pure heart_ could create miracles?" he cried out, a wry and broken smile twitching at his lips. The only miracle his heart could perform was by the breaking of it. And it would spell their doom together. "Heal wounded animals, as the Crows whispered!?" Siegfried remembered every stay pup, cat and waterfowl whom he had clambered after, not through any miracle, but through the sheer act of limb and life. Had that also been his heart? Perhaps. The sound of Lohengrin's exasperated cries as he chased after Siegfried still followed him now. [3]

It was like the lonely howl of a ghost knight upon this ravaged field of battle.

"That it could complete _my own body?"_ The Raven boomed, completing the rumor which the Crows had seeped throughout the land. His smile cracked the skies in two as it stretched from one horizon to the other. "What can I say, Prince? Every rumor has a heartshard of truth." [4]

Siegfried's grip tightened on the hilt of his sword and in one sweep and sound of metal on sheath, he drew Nothung.

"You think you do your people a service?" the Raven eyed the Prince's sword. Though Siegfried could not be certain that the Monster knew the true weight of its power, he could not miss the wariness in the creature's eye. Perhaps because he himself looked upon the blade with that same wariness. "Negative emotions like the ravens were meant to skulk within the heart of every living creature." Those red eyes trailed from the sword and back onto the Prince. "You do none of them a service in the denial of the natural balance." [5]

"This!" Siegfried swept across the land with his sword. "Is no balance!" It seemed impossible, and yet the Raven's smile widened. "And it is not balance that you want!" the Prince yelled on. "Not balance! Perhaps if it was, then yes! The ravens as well as the people of my kingdom would be my responsibility!" He brought his sword sweeping down to stay in front of him, pointing upon the foe. [6]

The Raven's eyes narrowed.

"But it is not balance that you seek!" Siegfried accused down the length of his sword. "And I have no raven within me for you to cry _'corruption!'_" [7]

The deep rumble of the Monster Raven's laughter rolled across the smoldering fields and rattled the cracked earth. "No… I dare say you do not." If Siegfried did not know better, he would have said that the Monster's eyes looked positively gleeful.

The time for talk was over. Siegfried grit his teeth. "You will pay, Raven, for all the lives that you have tainted!" The Prince set his heels into his stallion's flanks and it reared in a mane of white.

The red gaping beak stretched across the sky as the mouth of the Monster widened and he laughed openly across the heavens of what had once been a fair kingdom. "I am no more a mere Raven than you are a mere Prince, _Siegfried._ It seems your knight had a quicker wit than you." The beak curled into a sneer. "Or perhaps he was just most adept at recognizing darkness, having so much of it dormant in himself."

Siegfried lowered his sword a fraction. "What_ are_ you?"

The skies rumbled. "I have had many names," the Raven thundered. "Darkness. Despair. Monster. But truest of all of them, and best liked by me, I must say– my name is _Rothbart!"_ With the terror of a thousand lightning bolts, that name streaked through the sky, and the horror of it struck Siegfried's heart with so familiar a fire that, save that he had never heard it, the name might well have been his own. He was the Prince Siegfried. This was the Monster Raven, Rothbart. Together, they were Siegfried and Rothbart – two named creatures with unnamable power. The Prince and the Raven. [8]

With his left hand he pulled Lohengrin's sword from its sheath. He stood double-edged.

The light and the darkness, which should never have been rent apart, slammed back together the one against the other, entwined by sword and talon, once entwined by a single heart. Two faces of the same mint, they bore upon each other, eyes locked, with neither giving ground before the other. For every lethal peck there came Nothung to save the Prince's hide. For every lunge of Lohengrin's sword the feathered hide could not be pricked. The Raven Rothbart would have the Prince Siegfried's heart. He would not be denied. And yet, with every sing of metal, Prince Siegfried denied him. [9]

Siegfried felt the blood run down between his eyes from a gash across his forehead. He blinked through the red, his lashes drying crimson with the color. He grit his teeth and fixed his grip upon his swords. This would not become the story of the kingdom drowned in darkness. This would be the story about the Prince who vanquished the crafty Raven. [10]

With this thought the brave prince hurled upon the foe.

Though he should suffer days of endless fighting to once more descend upon him– Siegfried once more locked in combat with the talons of Rothbart– on top of all the years that he had already suffered– he screamed as he pushed through, inflicting another wound upon his enemy–though he should never find peace from this feud– and though it should take his own heart, he would never yield. [11]

Black feathered and bleeding, Rothbart would not yield either.

Red eyes wide with a hunger that was so much more terrifying than any hatred, the Raven opened his already gaping maw and fell upon him. Siegfried threw himself from the horse and as the stallion galloped off the great beak imbedded itself in the dirt by Siegfried's heel. The Prince was engulfed in a cloud of dust and the sting of razored feathers. Siegfried cried out against the pain and embedded Nothrung into Rothbart's flesh, and Rothbart cried out with him. [12]

In the darkness of the Raven Rothbart's pelt, their blood mingled as one. The Prince and the Raven were equally matched in strength, neither able to gain dominance over the other. Siegfried knew that there would be no option except that which he had been assured all his life he would never have to make. Nothung, the heart-shatterer, would have to find a heart, and that heart would be its wielder's. Buried in the heat of the Monster's feathered flesh, Siegfried allowed his eyes to slide shut for a moment, and he exhaled.

For a single moment the gentle prince felt something akin to selfishness. In truth, he did not want to lose his heart. All the laughter and tears, loving someone. Images of his parents, of Lohengrin, of Princess Tutu and of his people rose within the darkness about him. He would throw that all away to protect people's happiness. _But that is who I am._ Siegfried opened his eyes upon the darkness once more, his heart hardening to the task at hand. _I am the person who possesses such a heart._ [13]

With a mighty yell he pushed upon Rothbart with his blade, forcing the Raven to recoil. In response the monster let out a bloodied screech and fell upon him once more. _Still,_ Siegfried thought in the numbness of his own mind, torn asunder, _I do Hope that… someday…it should come back to me_. [14]

He conjured in his mind the great white feathers that his father had described to him from the legends – those of the Swan deity. How they would come down in a flash and seal Rothbart into a prison from which he could never escape. Siegfried blocked yet another onslaught, and countered. Yet, even as the memory gave him new strength, he remembered too that he would never be able to have his heart back.

For it would become the only key to unlocking the prison of Rothbart, which could never be opened. Tears streamed down his cheeks and, in a swell of emotion, he bellowed up onto the blackness. "Raven! Taste now the final lesson that my father, King Mime, protector of the realm, imparted onto his only son!" And, with these words–

"_All's up. Continue–"_

**EDITOR'S NOTE.**

Dear Reader,

As you may well see for yourself, it is here that Herr Drosselmeyer's manuscript cuts off. There is much speculation that the last three words do not actually pertain to the story, but are rather intended as a message to the reader instead. Regrettably, as the author passed away before the book's completion, there is no further information on this, or on the intended conclusion of _The Prince and the Raven._

We hope you have enjoyed this last, though unfinished, work of a masterful literary genius.

**…**

**Footnotes:**

[1] As Charon has Lohengrin's sword in _Princess Tutu_ (anime), Ep.10, it must have been taken from the fairytale at the same time as the Prince, his own sword, and the Raven. When Fakir finds the Prince he no longer possesses the sword, which means that he took it from the story as Siegfried but, upon losing his heart, forgot its value and discarded it for Charon to find.

[2] That Siegfried is a foolish Prince is a sentiment expressed in the _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.9

[3] This notion, which in this story is no more than an Owl Clan rumor, is drawn from _Princess Tutu (manga), _Vol.2 Ch7. P.13

[4] That the Prince's heart could perform miracles, heal small animals, and that it could complete the Raven's body is all drawn from _Princess Tutu (manga),_ Vol.2 Ch9. P.5

[5] This sentiment is drawn from _Princess Tutu (manga),_ Vol2. Ch10. P.13

[6] The idea that even the ravens within the kingdom are the responsibility of the Prince is drawn from _This Pendent Heart,_ Ch18. p.158

[7] The idea that there is a Monster Raven within us all is drawn from _This Pendent Heart,_ Ch14. p.114

[8] Neither Lohengrin nor Siegfried are referred to by name throughout most of _Princess Tutu._ They are merely "the Knight" and "the Prince." It seemed fitting that "the Raven" should also have such a name which exists only within the confines of the story.

[9] That the Prince and the Raven are two sides of the same coin, and that the two vied for mastery, is drawn from _This Pendent Heart, _Ch15. p.120

[10] The narrator states that this is the story of how a brave Prince vanquishes a Raven in _Princess Tutu (anime), _Ep.1

[11] That days of endless fighting descend upon the Prince is drawn from _Princess Tutu (anime),_ Ep.13

[12] The sequence of this clash is drawn from the nightmare that Mytho has in _Princess Tutu (anime), _Ep.7

[13] That Siegfried did not want to lose his heart is drawn from _Princess Tutu (anime), _Ep.13

[14] That, before the Prince shattered his heart, it was his will that he would someday get it back is drawn from _Princess Tutu (anime), _Ep.24


	7. Waifine's Author Note

**Waifine's Author Note:**

I would first like to thank a few people who made this recreation of _The Prince and the Raven _possible. I would like to thank LunaSphere and Mankaga-chan for creating the incredible story of _This Pendent Heart._ It was an amazing achievement which conveyed all the subtleties of the original _Princess Tutu_ series, and I can still never watch the two seasons without binge reading through my copy of _This Pendent Heart_ directly afterwards. It is an incredible story. After the _Chapter of the Egg,_ and the _Chapter of the Chick,_ I will always consider _This Pendent Heart_ to be the one and only _Chapter of the Duck. _

I would like to thank LunaSphere further for allowing me to lean so heavily on the content of _This Pendent Heart_. Had she not granted me permission to use her work, this reconstruction would never have happened. While _Princess Tutu_ has much to say about how the story of _The Prince and the Raven_ ended, there is very little on how it began. Here LunaSphere filled in the void with her beautiful writing. I hope I have done it justice in my work.

To all those who read my story, critiqued it, and aided me in the development – thank you. I wanted this to be a perfect a reconstruction as it could be. I _wanted_ this to be _The Prince and the Raven. _Because of you I think I have been able to make it so. Specifically, I would like to thank Ranoko and SoSaysL, who have given me such insightful criticisms, and have challenged me to expand the universe of the story without compromising the plot. Thank you for that, and so much more.

Before I breach onto the plot I would like to address the fact that Prince Siegfried did not shatter his own heart by the time this story ended. That is because, in Episode 1 of _Princess Tutu, _the Narrator states that it was only after he'd escaped the pages of the story that he broke his own heart. It did not take place in _The Prince and the Raven._ The Bookmen cut off Drosselmeyer's hands before the story was finished, and he died shortly after. This is why the heart-shards were scattered in the town and not in the magical kingdom. It was also the arrival of the Prince and the Raven into Gold Crown Town that brought all the crows which killed Fakir's parents, and abducted Rue as a child.

Also, someone drew my attention to the fact that, though Fakir read _The Prince and the Raven,_ he still renamed Siegfried as Mytho. That and the fact that in the excerpt of the text that is seen in Episode 3, Siegfried is only referred to as "Prince," leads to the question of whether or not Siegfried's name ever actually appeared in _The Prince and the Raven._ Personally, I do not think there would be any rhyme or reason to not name him in his own story, and I feel that the only reason that we as an audience did not know his name until the last episode was for it to be a great revelation. The reason Fakir did not call him Siegfried was that he did not want to draw attention to anything that might jolt Mytho's memories. He even berates Rue for calling him "my Prince."

Now, onto the choices I made in the writing of this story. As often as I could, and as much as I could, I relied on the original source material of the_ Princess Tutu _anime, _This Pendent Heart,_ and yes, even the manga. (I do hope that all of the footnotes did not become too distracting.) I tried to introduce characters that had only been either in Siegfried and Lohengrin's original Arthurian Lore, or in their respective Richard Wagner operas. By doing so, I hoped to avoid "original characters" or, OCs. The one exception that I feel might be in the grey area on this front is Lady Eule. As I stated in my footnotes, the reason for her presence was that I based her off the character of Edel from the manga.

I really did not like the manga. At all. I thought it was pretty awful, actually. However, the idea of a femme fatale with owls as her minions seemed like too good an idea to pass up. I felt that, while all _Princess Tutu_ fans should do their utmost to shun the manga, ignoring this character would be like throwing out the baby with the bathwater. So, I re-cast her in a more suitable place. In the manga she was a shallow, undeveloped villain (unlike both the villains of the anime and the Edel of the anime). However, her shallowness would be perfect in a fairytale. The placement of Lady Eule in _The_ _Prince and the Raven_ was the only nod I made to the manga, and I hope an acceptable addition to the story. "A little added flourish," if you will.

I tried to keep the points of views well balanced, telling the Prologue from the perspective of Siegfried's parents, and two and a half chapters apiece from the perspectives of Siegfried and Lohengrin respectively.

The plot itself was, surprisingly, very easy to construct. This was because Rue actually _hands _the audience the summery of the story in Episode 13. "The knight will eventually be torn in two. Princess Tutu will become a speck of light, and vanish. Days of endless fighting will once again descend upon the Prince. That is the outline that has been set out."

I remember blinking at the screen for a few moments after that scene thinking, "Well, thank you for that. And here I was worried that I would have to choose whether Lohengrin or Tutu died first. This makes everything so much easier."

And this leads to my next point. There is so much more about _The Prince and the Raven_ in _Princess Tutu _than I could ever have imagined. When I started re-watching the series for the purpose of noting every reference to the original story that I could find, I was shocked to realize just how often I was writing something down. And the references came in the oddest places, and often just breezed past. When Autor mentions in Episode 25 that all the townspeople being turned into crows makes "it looks exactly like the Crow Festival scene that took place in the _Prince and the Raven,"_ I almost completely missed it. Crow Festival? We never talk about that in the fandom. Who was turned? How did it happen? I had never noticed it before. And yet, there it was, a remarked upon and canon part of _The Prince and the Raven. _

This is why I refer to my writing of _The Prince and the Raven_ as a reconstruction. I wasn't interested in creating my own _Princess Tutu_ fan-fiction. I wanted to collect all of the scattered pieces of information on the original story and bring them into one whole. In a sense, I felt as though I was on my own Tutu quest, searching for heart-shards.

And so, I hope you have enjoyed this reconstruction of _The Prince and the Raven _by Herr Drosselmeyer.

All the best,

Waif.


End file.
